Digimon Frontier 02 White Rose
by Nico77
Summary: A sequel to Frontier, 3 years later. A new threat lies over the Digital World, but... things can never be that simple! KouichixOC,Takumi; PLEASE R
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: for the new readers: this is a re-written version of a very old fan-fic of mine. If you like how this chapter looks and decide to keep reading, don't be alarmed if the writing suddenly goes a few levels down after some chapter or other: it means I just haven't gotten around to re-writing it yet. The full explanation for my actions is filed under chapter 26. Thank you~**

**01. A New Beginning, **

**A New Mission**

"What are you waiting for, beat it, beat it!"

Takuya's little brother laughed, eyes focused firmly on the screen. Their mother popped out of the kitchen.

"Takuya, how nice of you to let your brother play on your computer, after you used to argue so much!"  
"Well, Mom, I—"  
The soft ring of a new text message cut him off and Takuya fished out his ex-D-Tector - now a cellphone again – out of his pocket. He pressed 'read now'.

The message was short and clear:

_'It is Ophanimon. We need your __aid__ in the Digital World__ once again__. Do you wish to help?'_

Takuya grinned broadly and pressed, 'yes'.

'_Yes, you bet!'_

A voice in his head said,_'I __have __already __contacted__ the other five __Digidestined__! Go to Shibuya station and get on the train from five oclock. You have __a __half an hour'_

"Little buddy, beat the game; I have to run out for a bit." Takuya pat his brother's shoulder while grabbing his coat. As he ran out of the house, he yelled, "I'll be back real soon!"

At that same time, Zoe, J.P., Tommy, Kouji and Kouichi were opening and reading the exact same message.

"Lther five kids?" Asked Kouichi, as he and his twin-brother were running towards the station (the two of them only had around ten minutes left…) "But, we're not six! We're seven!"  
"How... come?" asked Kouji, trying to keep up his breath.  
"Well, with... with Yoma we're seven!"  
"She wasn't with us when she was there, remember? We met her after we came back to the Real World!"  
"Ah—yeah, you're right…!"

Although he'd said that, Kouichi wasn't sure. He knew he'd seen her somewhere in the digital world. If he could just remember where...

"Although," he started with some uncertainty as the two of them elbowed their way through the station, "I think she was with me around the time Cherubimon started messing with my head…"

"You think she was another one of his minions?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't think so—"

"I doubt Ophanimon will call her if she wasn't with us in the first place. Got it!" Kouji took hold of his brother's wrist and they managed to wobble safely into the elevator.

A redheaded girl was slowly walking along a train. She held a green and brown D-tector in one of her hands and was just climbing into the only train that was currently waiting for passengers.

She thought she could hear voices somewhere far ahead…. reminiscing about the past, she opened the door to the next compartment.

_[FLASHBACK]_

"Are you alright, KK?"  
"Hn?" He looked up to see a girl with medium fire-red hair offering him a hand. Taking it, he stood up.

"Uh… thanks. How... did you call me?" He asked.  
"KK. You ARE Kouichi Kimura, right?" She cocked her head to the side in suspicion.  
"Er... yeah, but how did you..."  
"That doesn't matter," she looked around impatiently. "we have to get _you_ out of here."  
"Who are you?"  
"Oh, sorry, I didn't introduce myself. Yoma Gami."  
She gave him a sunny smile. Kouichi gave her a weak smile in return, his head spinning a little.

"What are you gaping at?" Yoma asked, noticing that he'd kept his eyes on her face for a while. Just now he had noticed her eyes... they were red. Blood red.  
"Ah, eh, n-nothing..." under her questioning gaze, he continued, "it's just that... your eyes... they are..." Kouichi was looking for the right word "...unusual."  
"Un... usual?" Yoma raised her eyebrow. The explanation dawned upon her and she laughed. "you mean their color? Yeah, I know. "  
"Well, it's not bad! Just surprising."  
"Thanks; I like to surprise!"  
"So, uh, where are we, anyway?" Kouichi looked around now. Everything was swirls of dark clouds and gray mist. He couldn't even tell if they were standing on something…  
"Now, that, my boy, is a more difficult question. How should I put it—" Yoma halted, her eyes scanning the space above rapidly.  
Yoma cursed under her breath and then yelled, "Don't mess with the boy's mind, Cherubimon! He's not what you're looking for!"  
There was a screeching laugh and a voice echoed, "he is _exactly_ what I'm looking for; stay out of this!"

"What's going on?" asked Kouichi. Yoma ignored him.  
"I tell you, he' not—AHH—"  
"Yoma!" Kouichi managed to pull her away from the path of a lightning."Are you all right?"  
"Been better..." The two dodged another lightning and she hissed, "Listen, whatever happens, you must not listen to anything he tells you!"

"What-?"

"Trust me, don't—"

_[END FLASHBACK]_

When the brothers arrived at the underground station, they noticed there was only one train waiting to take off this time. Looking around for a sign of the others, they hopped in and-  
"Here you are! We were wondering if you were going to make it… Guys, look, its Kouji and Kouichi!"

J.P. ran towards them, smiling broadly, followed by Tommy, Zoe and Takuya.

"So good to see you! We haven't gotten together in so long!"

"Ah, yeah, even though we've been on vacation so far—"

"Oh, buddy, you have no idea how hard homework is kicking my ass," Takuya sighed dramatically. Zoe raised an eyebrow.

"Like you ever really do it!"

At the very bottom of the train, a redheaded girl wearing sport-style clothes, with medium long hair and red eyes, was staring at them didnt seem pleased.

At first she'd been happy when she'd opened the compartment door and finally found them, but…

'_I wonder if they forgot about me. … **She** was right. Don't ever count on anybody!' _

She squinted and looked firmly out the window, wondering about what course of action to take next. Standing here and staring at them would certainly do her no good. Maybe if she yelled, they'd-

At that very moment, Kouichi turned around and spotted her. A smile stretching his lips, he called, "hey Yoma!"

The others turned to look and, with similar callings, waved her over.  
She jumped, started, and turned to look. They—they had noticed?

'_Of course they did, silly girl'_, she thought, a shiver running down her spine. _'They're your friends!'_

Shaking her previous thoughts off, she quickly approached them. And still for some reason, she found it a little difficult to look any of them straight in the eye…

"Hey, guys. What's up?"

"Everything's PERFECT! What could be better that this? We're together, and on our way to the DigitalWorld...!" J.P. threw his fists in the air.

Takuya, Tommy and Zoe laughed, Kouji smiled with a hint of very slight annoyance, but Kouichi was looking at Yoma worriedly.  
"Are you ok?" He asked carefully.  
"Uh? Yeah, I'm fine!" she snapped out of her thoughts again and grinned.  
"You sure?"  
"Why do you ask?"  
"I don't know... you seem worried about something, that's all."  
"I'm fiiiiine!" she waved the question off.  
"What are you doing here, though?" asked Takuya curiously, as if he was seeing her for the first time.  
"Obviously, I was called here! Like you. What do _you_ think?"

The train underneath their feet felt like it was starting to move – at last!

Then, it happened again: Yoma heard that voice again: _'See? He doesnt really want you here! None of them __wants to here!'_  
Yoma closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Enough already."

She rubbed her nose and, noticing confused looks, said, "I just – feel a bit woozy."

They all sat down around and Zoe said, "maybe feeling strange is maybe a sign we're getting close to the DigitalWorld. Though… _I_ don't feel anything…" she looked around at the others, who all shrugged or shook their heads.  
"No, its not that. I... haven't slept in a while. I'm tired. That's all." Yoma wasn't really lying at this point. Dreams hadn't been very pleasant for a while, resulting in a serious lack of sleep.

"Eh? Lack of sleep? Why? You can sleep all you want, it's SUMMER VACATION!" JP started—

"Could you PLEASE—" Yoma cut off, catching herself and realizing the tone she was using.

They gaped at her. She had never been like _that_ before. Sure, she could be rude at times, but this behaviour…  
She said, "Sorry. What I meant is... please, don't shout."  
JP shrugged, looking a little pouty.  
"Sorry, JP," said Yoma quietly.  
Before anyone could say anything more, the train slowed and finally halted.

The forest terminal was waiting for them – and the trailmon greeted them with a rumbling voice.  
"'Ello!"  
"Oh, hello again, Worm! How've you been doin'?" asked Takuya patting the digimon's side.  
"Ah, so so. A lot's changed since you left!"  
Meanwhile, JP pulled out a piece of chocolate and threw it in Worm's mouth. "that's for the ride!"  
"Mmmm!" Without thanking the boy, Worm belched, "thank you! I will see you arouuuuund!"

"Wait, what did you mean by— oh, man, it's no use…"

"He really hasn't improved his manners, has he?" Zoe frowned.

"Welcome back."  
The kids turned around to see an angel-like Digimon radiating light standing behind them. Ophanimon.

"Lady Ophanimon!"

And behind her were standing two other Digimon – Cherubimon, purified, and Seraphimon.

"It's so good to see you guys!" Takuya grinned.

"Cherubimon." Yoma gave him a small, private bow and received a nod as a response.

"I'm glad to see you all came. And how are you, Kouichi?" Ophanimon asked him with a smile.  
"Erm... I'm... I'm fine—thanks," he answered awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head.  
"We're all perfect!" Tommy called, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Why are we here?" it was Yoma who asked that, while at the same time trying not to sound too pushy.

"Oy, get a hang of yourself," whispered Kouji from the corner of his mouth.  
Yoma ignored him.  
"I didn't call her, did you?" Asked Seraphimon quietly. Charubimon shook his head.  
"Lady Ophanimon?"  
The woman didn't answer him. After a pause, she said:  
"We have summoned you here because of a dark force that's been slaving digimon all over the digital world."  
"Slaving?" asked Tommy.  
"Controlling their minds, making them do things against their will,"explained Seraphimon.  
"How horrible…" Zoe covered her mouth.

Takuya hurried to ask, "Do you know what's causing this?"  
"It's not a what. It's a who. A Digimon."

"Naturally," snorted Yoma quietly. No one seemed to hear her besides Kouji, who suppressed the urge to reply. This wasn't the time for it.  
JP and Kouichi exchanged looks as the older boy said, "Well, there are digimon who can control, no?..."  
"But only a few minds at a time. But you see, the digimon that are being controlled are all over the Digital world, which means we can't even begin to guess the location or source of this… digimon."

"With all due respect, but aren't _you_ here to take care of that kind of thing?" Yoma looked straight into Ophanimon's eyes.  
"Eh, you'll have to excuse her, she's a bit rude sometimes..." added Takuya awkwardly.

"Yes, I know." Still under Yoma's hard gaze, Ophanimon said, "your friend is right. That's what we're here for. We've fought this force before, but our attacks were turned against us, and we had no choice but to move out. We never got to see who's behind this."  
"You mean that whoever it was, it was fighting from a distance?" asked Kouichi with amazement.  
"It can create illusions, so we never saw its real appearence."  
"Is there a digimon that powerful?" asked Zoe.

"Only a few. We have a suspicion that it is Elfmon."  
Yoma gasped and took a step back.  
"What?" asked JP.  
"I... I haven't heard anything good—about her—"  
"O-kaay..." Takuya turned back to Ophanimon "so… you think it's her doing all this?"  
"We're not sure, but yes, that's a possibility. She fits the… criteria," Seraphimon said.

"And that is why we need you. You're our last hope, children. The power of your spirits and D-tectors…" Ophanimon raised her hand and, once again, the kids' mobile phones turned into the D-tectors they all knew so well (all besides Yoma's; no one really seemed to notice that, however). The objects slowly descended back into their owner's open palms.  
Takuya looked up at the three Celestial Digimon.

"Count on us!"

_TO BE CONTINUED..._


	2. Chapter 2

**2. "****A****nd now... to the castle!"**

"Pyro Punch!" Agunimon released a flame dragon from his fists. Unfortunately, the attack missed by a couple of millimeters.  
The two DarkTyrannomon laughed evilly.  
"Fire Blast!" yelled one of them and fired a stream of blazing fire at Agunimon, who managed to dodge in the last moment, launching another attack.

In the near parameter, five more DarkTyrannomon were fighting with Lobomon, Kazemon, Lowemon, Beetlemon and Kumamon.

"Well?" shouted Lobomon at Yoma, whom he was currently trying to protect from an attack as she tried to spirit evolve.  
"Execute Spirit evolution! C'mon! **Spirit evolution**!" she called desperately. She was pushed out of the way by someone and crawled away. "sorry, guys! It's just not working!"  
"DAMN! Try again! Lobo Kendo!" Yelled Lobomon and this time hit his target. At last, one of the DarkTyrannomon fell. The other five halted, looked at him for a second, then commenced the attack with even bigger fury.  
"I still dond't understand why did they start attacking us in the first place!" whined Kazemon.

"We were just walking through the woods minding our own business!" responded Bettlemon.  
"Well, prbably that Elfmon knows we're here and sent a couple of digimon to get us," replied Lowemon. "that's why we have to be careful and not destroy them, it's not their fault their under control!"

"I'll be careful when they start being care—"  
"Fire Blast!"  
"Lowemon, watch out! Thunder Fist!" Bettlemon aimed at one DarkTyrannomon who was right behind his friend. This one finally fell, too, breathing heavily and trying to get back up on its feet. Its fractal code started appearing around its body.

"Two down, four to go!" shouted Kumamon "Blizzard Blaster!"  
"YOMA!" shouted Agunimon, while trying to fight away a DarkTyrannomon pushing him against a tree.  
The girl stared at her D-tector angrily. you stupid piece of...! augh! Execute!"

Nothing.

"Do you even have a spirit in that thing?" shouted Kazemon, and added, "Tempest Twist!"

The force of the wind which slammed three DarkTyrannomon at a time and caused them to walk in circles dizzily.  
"I think I do!" responded the red-headed girl. "—Ack!" she stepped back and slammed into a tree when one of the digimon Kazemon had just attacked came to its senses and approached her. For a second, her breath cut when DarkTyrannomon got closer to her face. It stared straight into her eyes.

In a fraction of a second, behind all of her fear, she thought, _'if you don't back off, I will kick your eyes out of your skull!'_

Just as she heard someone ready to save her, the evil glimmer in the digimon's eyes dissappeared and he lay down in front of her like a dog in front of its owner.  
"Uh, guys, I think he won't fight anymore?" Yoma looked up at them.

"What if it's a trick?"

But after a moment of nothing happening, they de-evolved back to their original forms.  
"Are you okay?" asked Kouichi, going straight to Yoma. She leaned against the tree and took a deep breath.

"I'm fine." She smiled.

"What did just happen?" asked Tommy in wonder.  
"I think she took the control off of him," said Takuya in bewilderment.  
"how did you do _that_?" asked Zoe with amazement.

Yoma shrugged. "I've no idea. It's like… it heard me when I threatened to knock it out—"

"You threatened it?" Kouji raised a brow. "Don't you think that would be rather pointless…?"

"Apparently, it worked," hissed Yoma back.

JP laughed nervously, "Remind me not to stand in the way of your death glare."

"What about the other five?" Kouichi looked at around to the other DarkTyrannomons who were, rapidly but shakily, wobbling to the depths of the woods.

"…I think we don't have to wory about them..."

"Thank you," grumbled the digimon laying on the ground. It stood up slowly. "Thank you very much." Then a bit of fear crept into its voice, "Dear me, the Lady won't be happy, no, no, she won't…."

"The Lady?" exclaimed Yoma.

"Lady Elfmon, of course."

"She demands to be called _'Lady Elfmon'_?" Said Takuya. "What the hell?"

"Tell us, do you know where we'd be able to find her?" asked Kouichi.  
"In the Castle of Elements. Everyone knows _that_!" the DarkTyrannomon looked baffled by the fact that they didn't seem to know.

The group exchanged looks.

"Ophanimon didn't…" murmured Yoma.

"Uh, we're kinda new, so we didn't know." JP told the digimon.  
"How do we get there?" asked Tommy.

"Keep going in the same direction until you get to the tracks, and then jus' keep going. The closer you get, the more guards there are..."

"Guards are no problem, buddy!" Takuya grinned.

"Thank you," Zoe put a hand on its head. The DarkTyrannomon smiled lazily and turned to the woods.  
"Do take care!"

"We will!"

"Well, I guess we all know what to do... _to the castle_!" yelled Takuya.

"I'm pretty hungry actually," muttered JP. The others nodded in agreement.  
"Okay then... to the castle... and to some food!"

_TO BE CONTINUED..._


	3. Chapter 3

3. behind her red eyes 

Three days have passed since the kids entered the digital world and since their first battle there.  
It was evening, and the kids made a camp, still in the woods.

"Don't you think it's strange that we haven't seen any Digimon ever since the fight with the DarkTyrannomons?" asked Takuya thoughtfully.  
"You're right." Kouichi knit his brows.  
"I don't know why you worry about _that _" Yoma threw a branch in the fire "I wouldn't complain if I were you." she smiled at the boy with the goggles.  
"Another thing" added Takuya, completely ignoring her "Elfmon sent only six DarkTyrannomon against the seven of us. Is it possible that she knew that Yoma couldn't spirit evolve?"  
"If so, I hope she knows why too" mumbled Tommy.  
"Hey! I'm right here!" said Yoma loudly.  
Kouji rolled his eyes.  
"Excuse us. Do you have something to **add **about this?" he muttered behind teeth.  
The girl bit her down lip and said nothing.  
"Man, am I **hungry **!" said JP and put a hand on his stomach.  
"Tomorrow we'll find some food." said Zoe.  
"That's what we say every evening for the past days! All that we found were some eatable plants!"  
"I know! Lets' go to the to that village for the hambourger lovers tomorrow!" said Takuya with a smile.  
"Great idea! But we have to get a train..." muttered Tommy.  
"You mean go back to the forest terminal?" Yoma snored "are you crazy?"  
"We'll think of something." Takuya yawned. "I dunno about you guys, but I'm _exhausted _."  
"It's my turn now, right?" asked Yoma.  
They used to put one guard each night, just in case.  
"What's the use? If we get attacked, there is nothing **you **could do, is there?" said Kouji.  
"Stop treating me like I can't do anything!" shouted Yoma and jumped up. "I've been helpless enough days of my life!"  
"Well, I guess it's not any different now!" Kouji stood up as well and looked straight into her eyes.  
Then he understood what was it that had effect on the DarkTyrannomon. The girl's stare had great power. It was almost hypnotizing. Kouji felt something really strange while he looked into her eyes. Something rather different than hatred.  
"You have no idea how it's like to be completely helpless! no idea!" shouted Yoma and that feeling in him suddenly disappeared.

A cold wind blew through the trees as they looked like a frozen painting.

"Okay, clam down you two." said Zoe and stood between them.  
"Yeah, no need to fight." added Takuya.  
"I'll stay with Yoma on guard." said Kouichi "if that'll solve the problem."  
"What problem? I don't see a problem." hissed Yoma.  
"Fine by me." responded Kouji and turned around furiously.  
"Then it's settled." smiled Takuya.

"'night everybody." muttered JP after a few minutes, when everybody but Yoma and Kouichi were ready to close their eyes.  
"g'night."

The red-headed girl looked at the stars through a free space between the crowns of the trees. She was sitting with her back against a tree.  
The girl was turning inside her mind the memories of what happened three years ago...

[FLASHBACK

"One more step, sis!" a boy with long, black hair was talking to a 10-year-old girl.  
she was making one step after another, very carefully and very slowly.  
"almost... there..." she muttered and reached out her hands. "Don't... move... ok... Pete?"  
"Ofcourse not." responded the older boy.   
The girl smiled slightly and made another step.

[END FLASHBACK

Kouichi, when he wasn't staring at the sky, looked at Yoma, who was right next to him. There was something strange about her words... 'I've been helpless enough days of my life!'...  
"Yoma?" asked the boy.  
"Mhm?" she still didn't turn to him.  
"Can I ask you something?"  
"Go ahead."  
"Well... back then... when you said you know how it feels like to be completely helpless... what did you mean?" Kouichi asked carefully.  
Hearing his question, Yoma smiled and turned to look at him.  
"Do you really wanna know?" she seemed completely calm.  
"if... if it's ok." responded the boy.  
"sure." she took a deep breath "it's not a very long story, but... anyway. When I was 3 I had a car accident. The whole family did, actually. By a miracle, we all made it out alive. I was the only one really injured. I had a broken... back." she closed here eyes in pain. "I couldn't walk. At all. And the doctors said I'll never be able to, either. So I ended up in a wheelchair." Yoma opened her eyes again and stared with a sad smile at her knees. "Six years, KK. Six years I accepted my fate. Six long years I stared at the other kids running around, playing soccer, basketball... but I did nothing. I couldn't do anything, actually. ...that's what I meant when I said I know what it feels like to be helpless."

Kouichi was speechless. He knew that there was something she was hiding all the time... but he never thought that it would be something like that...  
"I... dunno... what to say." he finally found his voice.  
"What can you?" she responded. "There really is nothing to tell."  
He just nodded.

Kouji, who was lying nearby, heard everything. He was with his back to them, so his brother and Yoma didn't know he was awake. Kouji felt just like when he looked into her eyes... it was like a warm feeling and at the same time angriness toward both his brother and Yoma.  
what's wrong with me? thought the boy I can't be mad at my brother! I just can't!

"Can I ask you... erm... how..." started Kouichi.  
"How did I get back on my feet?" continued his question Yoma.  
"Yeah."  
"Well... when I was 9... One morning I woke up and realized I could move my legs." a big smile appeared on her face "and 3 years ago I decided to get the hang of myself. With help from my brother and lots of luck I stood up again. It was great... man, am I tired" Yoma added and yawned.  
"Why don't you get some sleep? I'll finish the guard." Suggested the boy.  
"No... I shouldn't... really." Yoma hardly kept her eyes open.  
"You look like you haven't slept in a long time."  
"true." She yawned again ''ok... but wake me up in an hour... or... two..." her eyes slowly closed and her head fell on Kouichi's shoulder.  
"Thankyou... for listening..." muttered the girl and fell asleep.  
He just smiled and looked at the sky again.

_TO BE CONTINUED..._


	4. Chapter 4

I noticed that in EVERY season of Digimon (maybe not in Savers, Ihaven't watched that) there's an epi called that. so here it is, my chapter, called 'now you see it, now you don't.'

4. Now you see it, now you don't 

_'come with me... you will not regret... this I promise... Yoma...' _

"aaah!"  
the girl opened her eyes. her breathing was shallow, and she was sweating.  
"you're awake! finally! are you okay?" asked Zoe.  
"I'm... fine... I think." the girl sat. "what... did I miss something?"  
"you fell asleep during the break..." explained Tommy.  
"we've been trying to wake you up for over five minutes." sneered Kouji.  
"sorry." muttered the girl and stood up.  
"well, you should start sleeping at night."  
" excuse me! maybe you should try to sleep when you have nightmares all the time!" hissed back the girl.  
"oh, yeah?!"  
"we should go before those two tear each other apart." muttered Kouichi. the rest of the team giggled, while Yoma and Kouji were shooting deadly looks at each other.  
"I'm going to the river for a moment, I'm thirsty." siad the girl through teeth.  
"hey! we should've left a long time ago!" shouted Takuya.  
"then go on without me, I'll catch up." she answered.  
"are you sure? what if..." started Zoe.  
"I'll be fine. go ahead." Yoma disappeared in the bushes.  
"ok..."

The red-headed girl approached the crystal clear, calm water. so calm, that she could see her own reflection in it.  
Yoma went on her knees and looked at herself. what she saw made her eyes widen. she gasped and covered her mouth with a hand.  
the girl, looking at her from the water was almost the same, but had strange, green, scars on her face. it was slowly turning into a woman. green, with the same scars, and cat-like red eyes.

"you..." muttered Yoma. "what do you want from me?! leave me alone!"

_"listen to me, girl" _she said with a deep, but nice voice. _"you__'ve__ got what I want... and I have what you need to achieve your goal... so we can make a deal, what do you say?"_

"I don't understand what are you talking about." answered the girl and thought ,I'm crazy. talking to a reflection...

_"not only a reflection, Yoma." _Elfmon smiled, making the girl freeze. _"I'm so much more and you know it. and you know very well what I'm talking about. does the phrase 'there is nothing you could do' sound familiar?" _

Yoma gasped. it was the same thing Kouji told her a few days ago.

"are you spying on me?" she finally said "stop it! whay do you keep messing with my life?!" the girl was careful not to shout. if the others heard her, it would be really hard to explain what was she doing.

_"why do you have to explain anything?" _asked Elfmon, reading her thoughts again.

"what do you want from me?!"

_"not much. as I said, we can make a deal..." _

"what kind of deal?" asked Yoma with suspicion.

_"that's more like it." _

"I didn't say I'll do it! just tell me what in the name of heavens are you talking about?!"

the woman grinned.

[later in the afternoon

"I'm bored." said JP and put both his hands behind his head.  
"me too. I wish we could already get to that castle and make Elfmon pay!" Takuya hit his hand with his fist.  
Zoe looked at her spirits in the D-tector.  
"at least last time we were looking for the spirits..."  
"I didn't. I got mine right away, just like KK" said Yoma.  
"KK?" asked Kouji, stopping. his expression suddenly seemed somehow hurt.  
"do you have a problem with me calling him that?" asked the girl with a raised eyebrow.  
"no." the boy furiously looked away and kept going.  
Kouichi looked at him, worried.  
I wonder why he's acting like that... he thought.

Yoma took a deep breath. the wind was cool and very refreshing. the girl smiled.  
all those trees... they're so calming...  
she'd almost forgotten all about the dream and the reflection from before. every time it was the same... with the same voice... same words...  
she never told the others about her conversation with Elfmon. her offer seemed reasonable. maybe I should do it thought the girl doesn't seem like any harm could come out of it... At least not much.

what the... Yoma suddenly noticed that one of trees was different. for a second she thought that she saw a face in it... a face of a woman. she was staring with her deep, cat-like eyes. her mouth opened and she said something. the same words that followed Yoma all the time...  
"oh... my..." she stopped.  
"what?" Takuya turned around.  
"didn't you see?!" the girl was as plain as a wall. "there was someone there!"  
"really? I don't see anything." Zoe approached the tree and put her hand on it.  
"there was a woman there! I saw her!"  
"aren't you overreacting?" asked Kouji.  
"no, really! it was the same woman from my dreams!"  
"maybe it was your imagination then." said JP.  
"it was not! I know what I saw!" shouted Yoma again. "why don't you believe me?"  
"maybe there really was something." said Kouichi. "to scare her so much..."  
"don't talk as if I'm not here!!"  
"then why isn't it there anymore?" hissed Kouji, ignoring Yoma. after half a second he realized who was he talking to. he sighed.  
why am I being like that to my brother? he hasn't done anything...  
"I'm just trying to look from another point of view." Kouichi explained.

the kids had just reached a plain cliff, and stopped.

"that Elfmon probably wants to get to us." Takuya closed his fists. "well, if you're listening, you'll never make it! you hear me?! never!!" he shouted.  
silence.  
"c'mon! you appear, or you send someone for you, why don't you come out and fight!"  
"erm... Takuya..." started Zoe. "I think there is nobody..."

_"you challenge me, boy?"_ the kids turned around. the words were coming from the red-headed girl. her eyes were empty and she had an evil grin on her face. _"fine then... we'll fight. But since I have to guarantee your arrival..."_

"what are you talking about?!" shouted Takuya.

_"I'll be waiting in the Castle of Elements..."_

the girl shivered and almost fell, but Kouichi caught her before she hit the ground.  
"are you alright?"  
"yeah... I'm... fine." they both stood up. "why are you looking at me like that?" added the girl.  
"she... you... you just said..." mumbled Tommy.  
"what did I say?" Yoma seemed quite surprised.  
"Elfmon just used you to tell us... that... she'll make sure we'll go to the castle... don't you remember...?" answered JP.  
"really? she used me...? I wonder what she's gonna take then." muttered the girl.  
"take?" asked Zoe. "how'd you know she's gonna take something?"  
"it's obvious. She wants to make sure we'll go somewhere in particular." answered Yoma thoughtfully.  
"how do you know that?" asked Kouji.  
"logic."  
"well, if she tries, we'll stop her!" said Takuya loudly and with a smile.  
"hey... guys... what is that sound?" asked Tommy. the others listened.  
"sounds like flapping of wings... insect wings." answered JP and looked around.

suddenly out of the trees popped out a bunch of Flymon. there was about ten of them.

"by an order of the Lady, we must take the girl." said the one in front.  
"the... girl?" muttered Zoe. Takuya made a step forward.  
"the red-headed one." added the Flymon.  
"oh, yeah?!" to everybody's surprise, Kouji was the one who stood in front of Yoma and pulled out hi D-tector. "how about you go back to your lady and tell her she ain't getting anything!"  
"oh." the Flymon grinned "when the Lady wants something, she gets it... mark my words, boy!"

_TO BE CONTINUED__…_

--------------------------------------------

"...I'm starting to think those kids will bring us hard time..."

---------------------------------------------------------

"listen to me, Lucemon. This world, with those Digimon in it, is no good."

well, please tell me what you think so far. I promise it'll get better (:


	5. Chapter 5

This chapter takes place after the Flymon DID NOT manage to take Yoma. I'll write about it in the next chaper, so basically, this is about her and I even involved Lucemon (:

--------------------------------------------------

5. the other side

Gotsumon hated disturbing his leader with bad news. her reaction could never be 'never mind'. you would never hear **her** say that.  
I wish I agreed to become a guard at the gates instead of a messenger he thought. should've listened to what they told me.  
he made his way through the hall, then approached the big white doors.

The Castle of Elements was probably one of the biggest buildings in the digital world. Standing in the beginning of the desert, it was mostly white, with many plants attached to its walls, but you could find ornaments of the elements Flame, Wind, Ice, Light, Thunder and Darkness. after all, it didn't have its name for nothing...

Gotsumon took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"yes?" it opened and revealed an empty room, having only a bed. Elfmon came in from the balcony. She was a tall, woman-like Digimon with a long, brown-green dress (which had a similar color to her skin), cat-like red eyes, and pointy ears. Also, she had some scratch-like marks on her face.  
"do you have news about the girl? and the Flymon?" she asked.

that's my master. getting right to the point. I hate that. thought the Gatsumon and said:

"well, Lady Hamad... I mean Elfmon, considering the number of the legendary warriors and the strength of the Flymon..." he started. drops of sweat were falling down his forehead.  
"stop mumbling and get to it! did they take her or not?!"  
"n-no." he muttered almost with no voice.  
"what's that?" she bowed so her face now was closer.  
"no, Lady." he repeated.  
Elfmon rose and took a really deep breath. Gatsumon closed his eyes.  
"now I am going to count to five" she started, her voice rising with every letter "and until then you'll be out of my room, and will be telling the rest TO DO NOT DISTURB ME FOR THE NEXT HOUR!!!!"

The gray digimon ran out and she slammed the door.

"oh my, oh my..." Gatsumon sighed, worried.  
"hey. angry again?" asked a Guardromon, while passing by.  
"yes. I'm starting to think those kids will bring us hard time..." Gotsumon shook his head and started walking with him.  
"I wonder why is the Lady so interested in the girl... what was her name again?"  
"Yoma I think."  
"hey, don't say that I told you, but..." Guardromon's voice turned into a whisper "...but I've heard that this girl is keeping a part of the Lady's strength. or something like that." he stood tall again.  
"really? where do you hear those things from?"  
"secret. well, I'd love to chat more, buuuut... I gotta job to do." smiled the Guardromon.  
"what job?" asked his friend with suspicion.  
"the gates."  
"you're really full of yourself, aren't you?" sneered the Gatsumon and disappeared around the corner.  
"have a nice day too!"  
poor guy. being the personal messenger is not an easy thing.

Elfmon sighed and sat on the wide bed.

"I give them the easiest thing and they blow it. it was easier when I had to convince Lucemon..." she laid back and closed her eyes, letting the memories flow through her head.

[FLASHBACK

"what do you want, Hamadryamon?" asked an angel-like boy, Lucemon, with great suspicion.  
"you know I don't like this name." answered Elfmon and looked straight into his eyes.  
"yes, I do." he nodded. "now tell me, why did you call me here?"  
"to congratulate you for stopping that war."  
"thank you, but I'm sure this isn't what you wanted to tell me." Lucemon smirked, while Elfmon passed by him.  
"you're correct... as usual. Actually, I wanted to ask you something..."  
"as usual..."  
"...why did you do this? I mean, what's it to you?" the woman ignored his add.  
"it was a complete chaos. Besides, war does no good. But what am I saying" Lucemon laughed "you don't even know the meaning of the word 'good'."  
"very funny." Elfmon closed her fists. "anyway. Stopping this war, however, won't stop the chaos in this place. If you really want to help out..."  
"let me guess." Lucemon cut her "I have to become the leader of the Digital World."  
"not... exactly. You should destroy this one, create a better Digital World and then become its leader." She looked at his over her shoulder.  
"oh, please. Don't you think that's a little drastic?" he laughed again.  
"listen to me, Lucemon. This world, with those Digimon in it, is no good. I mean, you maybe a hero, but mark my word, they will forget you after a few years. Nobody remembers the heroes."  
"you talk as if you've done something for this place."  
"what if I have?" she looked at the floor, from which a big plant started to grow. After a second on the top of it opened its leaves a beautiful rose. White rose.  
"I know what you're trying to do. I've heard a lot about you. You tell Digimon..."  
"...what they know they have to do. I just encourage them."  
"no, you tell them whatever you think they want to hear." He sneered "well, you're not getting me with that."  
"as you wish."Elfmon turned around. "but think about what I said" you may find truth in it."  
"maybe." shrugged Lucemon.

[END FLASHBACK

if things hadn't got out of my control... thought Elfmon I'd be the leader of a new digital world... I wonder if the girl remembers why was she working for Cherubimon in the first place.

_'I want you to go and spy for me... see what's going on. I have to know how much power Lucemon gained.'  
'okay, but you have to keep your part of the deal.'  
'of__course, Yoma'_

too bad those kids were in the way. He almost succeeded... Elfmon opened her eyes and stood up. Then went out on the balcony and looked towards the big forest.  
"you're smart, kids. But you're close. And Yoma... don't worry. Next time... it will work."  
She laughed.

_TO BE CONTINUED..._

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"how about you go back to your lady and tell her she ain't getting anything!"  
----------------------

"it was your fault!!"  



	6. Chapter 6

here it is, chap6! WARNIIIIING - comatains Takumi. but not much (:

6. poison 

"by an order of the Lady, we must take the girl." said the one in front.  
"the... girl?" muttered Zoe. Takuya made a step forward.  
"the red-headed one." added the Flymon.  
"oh, yeah?!" to everybody's surprise, Kouji was the one who stood in front of Yoma and pulled out his D-tector. "how about you go back to your lady and tell her she ain't getting anything!"  
"oh." the Flymon grinned "when the Lady wants something, she gets it... mark my words, boy!"  
"not if I have something to say about it! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"

"okay, let's get out of here and let Kouji deal with them!" said Zoe and grabbed Yoma's wrist.  
"ye-yeah..."  
"not without me!" Takuya pulled out his D-tector and evolved into Agunimon.

"Pyro darts!" he threw small bits of fire at the Flymon from his gauntlet.  
"so... you want it the hard way? very well!"  
"Poison Powder!" all of the Flymon released a poisonous dust from their wings at the same time.

the rest of the team made their way towards a small cave JP noticed.  
"don't you think we should help?" asked Tommy.  
"they can take care of them." answered Yoma.  
"I hope." added Kouichi.  
right before they went in one of the insects (who wasn't noticed by Kouji and Takuya) flew towards Yoma, who was in the end of the line.  
"oh, no, you don't! Howling Laser!" Lobomon gathered energy to the weapon on his left wrist, and released it in a burst of light energy at the Flymon. he fell down and his fractal code appeared.

"Pyro Punch!" Agunimon released a flame dragon at another three insect digimon.  
"Brown Stingers!" another Flymon aimed at him. he, on the other side, managed to escape one of the stingers, but another one hit his arm.  
"ow!" he fell on his knees and de-evolved back into Takuya. he grabbed his arm and fell on one side.  
"Takuya!" both Zoe and Yoma ran towards him. the red-headed girl didn't even see one Flymon approaching her, and Lobomon, who at that time evolved into KendoGarurumon, didn't notice either.

"Yoma! watch out!" Kouichi shouted, but it was laready too late.  
"hey! let... me... go!" the Flymon flew up, holding the girl in his legs.  
"move out! we got waht we came for!" said the insect. the rest stopped attacking KendoGarurumon and followed their leader towards the end of the cliff.  
Yoma was desperetly trying to set herself free.  
Kouji didn't dare to attack, fearing he might hit the girl.  
"what do you want from her anyway?" he shouted.  
there was no answer.  
"I **said**, let go!!" Yoma started kicking to all sides. she bitted the Flymon's leg and, with a cry of pain, he let her go by accident. the girl fell and managed to hold onto the end of the cliff. she looked down and shivered.

right in the begining of the forest Takuya was shaking. his eyes were closed and drops of sweat were falling down his sides..  
"Takuya! can you hear me?" Zoe was panicked. "hold on! c'mon Takuya!"  
he slowly opened his eyes and smiled slightly.  
"I'm f-fine... honest... ugh!" his eyes closed again in pain.  
"you're not fine! c'mon! we have to get you to that cave!" Zoe put his non-injured arom around her shoulders and stood up. JP ran tawrds them to help. soon they got to the cave and let the boy lay down.  
"I bet there was some kind of poison in there." muttered Kouichi.

at this time, the Flymon, furious, flew away.  
"we'll be back!" shouted the one in front.  
Kouji, who now was a kid again, ran towards Yoma and grabbed her hand.  
"gotcha." he pulled her up and finally the girl was on solid ground. she fell forward, right on Kouji.  
"sorry." the girl stood up and cleaned herself.  
Kouji, blushing slightly, stood up as well and said nothing.  
"sorry." she repeated.  
"it was your own fault."  
"what?"  
"it was your fault for falling down that cliff. if you stayed out of the way, like you were supposed to, this wouldn't happen."  
"ex-excuse me?! it wasn't my fault those Flymon attacked! and Takuya was injured!"  
"Zoe could take care of that! those digimon weren't after her, they were after you!" hissed Kouji.  
"well, excuse me for being concerned about my friends! maybe if I wasn't here at all, then you'd be pleased! tell me, Kouji, what I must do so you won't be angry at me?!" she shouted back.  
"use your brain!"  
"I'll use it, alright!" the girl jumped forward. they both fell again. she raised her fist and was about to hit Kouji, when Kouichi ran towards them and grabbed the girl's wrist.  
"this is not the time for fights." he said.  
"yeah, so get the hang of yourselves and come here! we've enough trouble already!" shouted JP.  
"you're lucky." muttered Yoma and stood up.

later in the evening, the situation with Takuya wasn't any better. he was still sweating and in pain.

JP and Kouji had set a fire. and the rest were wondering what to do.  
"it's obvious that we can't move to anywhere." said Kouichi and looked with a worried expression at Zoe and Takuya.  
the blonde girl hadn't changed her position in the last few hours. she was staring at the boy's face, trying really hard not to let the tears fall down her cheeks.  
"she's really worried, isn't she?" said Yoma and threw a branch in the fire.  
JP nodded sadly.  
"well, aren't you?" asked Tommy.  
for a couple of minutes there was silance.  
"I hate to be sitting like that. let's split up and find some food." said JP finally.  
"mhm. let's split into groups of two." agreed Kouji.  
"right. me and Tommy will go for branches, and you and Kouichi will go for food. and Yoma... er..." JP scratched his head.  
"I'll go with them." said the girl.  
"you sure we can leave Zoe on her own?" asked Tommy.  
"I'll be fine." said the girl and looked at them. "you guys go. just be careful not to get lost."  
"okay."

"how can we find anything in this darkness anyway?" asked Yoma and looked around.  
"I guess we can follow our noses to some fruits." smiled Kouichi.  
"yeah, good idea. wanna go for a try?" laughed the girl.  
Kouji was staring up front in complete silance.  
I hate it when they do that. he thought we're here to look for food, not to joke around.

Kouichi was trying very hard to stay focused on what he had to do, but he couldn't help staring at Yoma. her hair was shining on the moonlight, and her eyes were so pretty...  
I can honestly say that's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen... he thought, not knowing his brother was thinking the exact same thing.

stop it, Kouji. you don't like her or anything! the boy with the bandanna shook his head. I have to distract myself with something.

"I think I saw something." he pointed over to a to a bunch of bushes and approached them.  
Yoma sighed and made a few more steps forward. then her legs bumped into some plant, she lost her balance and fell on her knees.  
"stupid plants..." she muttered and looked up. Kouichi smiled and offered her a hand.  
"tha-thanks." she took it ad stood up. then for a second, they were both staring at each other's eyes. Yoma was glad it was dark, so he couldn't notice her blushing.

"hey, can I get some help?" Kouji's voice woke them up.  
the girl quickly looked away and passed by Kouichi.

"Zoe?" muttered Takuya.  
"yeah?"  
"nothing. I was just checking." he opened his eyes. "I thought I was halusinating."  
"don't worry, I'm really here." Zoe put her hand on his.  
"listen... er... for a long time now... I wanted to tell you..." started the boy and blushed.  
"what?"  
"back there... in the library... one year ago, remember when I told you I liked you, but I didn't like you 'that' way?" he asked.  
"I remember. and about that... later... I wanted to tell you something too, but you were asleep, and..." Zoe looked away, blushing as well.  
"really?" Takuya, very carefully, sat.  
"you first."  
"well..." he didn't quite know what to say. "actually... I... I lied. the truth is, that... I really do like you Zoe. I've been trying to tell you this ever since then, but I... never had the courage." the boy looked at his knees and smiled. "and I just decided that I can't hold it anymore. you have to know."  
"oh." Zoe blushed even harder. "well, that's what I wanted to tell you too... that I like you."  
"you mean, we were both hiding this for over an year?! now I'm confused!"  
Zoe laughed.  
"well, I guess something good came out of this injury after all."  
"yeah..." Takuya said thoughtfully. then he yawned. "I feel dizzy again."  
"you're so annoying sometimes." smiled the girl and added "lay down. I'm sure the others found something by now."  
"hey... have you noticed the way the twins stare at Yoma lately?" asked Takuya, while putting his head down.  
"yeah, it's really wierd. they both act protective towards her. but I'm sure it's nothing." she answered.  
"I hope you're right. it wouldn't be very pleasent if they both fell in love with her..." he muttered.

"hey! guys! look what the twins and Yoma found!" shouted JP. the five kids approached the cave. JP and Tommy were carruing branches, and the other three - many tiny, purple fruits.

"there you go." Yoma put down hers and turned to Zoe. "how are you two doing?"  
"any trouble while we were gone?" asked Tommy.  
"no." Zoe looked at Takuya.  
"not at all."  
they both laughed, leaving the rest of the team confused.

_TO BE CONTINUED..._

-----

hope you liked (:


	7. Chapter 7

7. The day we met

[FLASHBACK

"oh, I'm so sorry!" the read-heded girl went down on her knees and started collecting all the fallen books.  
the boy started helping her.  
"don't worry about it, it's not a first time I bump into someone who's on the way out of the school library." he handed her a notebook and they both stood up.  
"oh..." she blushed "well, I'm sorry again..."  
"where were you... er..." the girl's eyes almost hypnotized him and he couldn't concentrate. "where were you running to?" he put a hand on him forhead and closed his eyes.  
"math's class. do you have a headache?" she asked curiously, not noticing how the books were about to fall again.  
"no, no. I'm okay."  
"wait a sec... aren't you Kouji Minamoto?" the girl's eyes widened.  
"hm? yeh, that's me." the boy looked at her with surprise. "how'd you know?"  
"I've seen you in the..." the bell rang and Kouji didn't hear the rest of the sentance.  
"oh, no!" she screamed, noticing the clock. "I'm late!!"  
the girl ran down the corridor and shouted:  
"it was nice to see you, Kouji! by the way, I'm Yoma!"  
and she disappeared around the corner.

[END FLASHBACK

it was two nights after the attack of the Flymon. Takuya was better, but now they couldn't travel because of the non-stop rain. all the kids were really bored all the time, and the time was passing mostly with memories from the last time they were in the digital world. of course, with avoiding the depressing moments.

"hey! pssst! Kouji! wake up!"  
"mmff..." he slowly opened his eyes only to see Yoma, bending over, with her face hardly a few centimeters away from his. Kouji blushed and hissed:  
"get off me!"  
"I am off you!" whispered the girl and rose. Kouji sat. she was on his left, down on her knees.  
"what do you want?!" muttered the boy angrily.  
" be quiet, or you'll wake the others! that's your turn now, remember?!" she whipered back and stood up. "move it!"  
"why didn't you wake my brother, since you two are so close" hissed Kouji, stood up as well and went to the opening of the cave.  
"what did you say?" Yoma was getting angry.  
"never mind." he looked outside. "did the rain stop at any point?"  
"no."  
Kouji muttered something and then said:  
"goodnight, Yoma."  
" 'night."

[FLASHBACK

"So... you say Kouji met a girl who was in the digital world?"asked Takuya.  
"For the third time, Takuya, yes, he did." Responded Kouichi. "how many times are you going to ask me?"  
"It's just so weird! How come we didn't even see her there?!" Zoe still looked shocked.  
"Ask him, not me."  
"Where are they anyway?" JP looked around.  
The cafй they were waiting in was right next to the park.  
"Yeah, it's already past 3 o'clock..." muttered Tommy.  
"hey, guys!"  
"finally!"  
Kouji ran towards them, followed by the red-headed girl.  
"glad you didn't forget to come." Sneered Takuya.  
"sorry, it was my fault. I had a job with my brother." The girl said, while catching her breath.  
"anyway. Guys, that's Yoma. She's in my school." Smiled Kouji.  
"nice to meet you." The moment Kouichi shook her hand, a strange feeling took over him. The feeling that this is not the first time he meets the girl...

after everybody knew her, they sat down.  
"what can I do for you, kids?" a young waitress stood in front of thetable, ready to write down.  
"well... lemonade for all?" asked Takuya. the rest nodded. he turned to the woman: "seven lemonades please."  
"right" she wrote down and went to another table.  
"so, tell me, Yoma... do you have a D-tector?" asked Zoe.  
"yeah... you can say so." answered the girl.  
"what do you mean?" JP looked at her curiously.  
"well... I've never used it before, I'm not even sure I know how."  
"wait... you still have it?!" asked Tommy, amazed.  
"sure, why?"  
"ours turned back into cellphones." muttered Kouji.  
"oh."  
"your lemonades, kids. and the check."

[END FLASHBACK

"wake up!" shouted Zoe.  
"hn?"  
"mmmfff... whasit?" muttered Takuya and slightly opened his eyes. the rest started moving as well.  
"the rain stopped!" shouted the blonde girl happily.  
"what? really?" Kouichi sat and looked outside. Zoe was right. the sun was shining and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. the remaining water on the ground and plants was reflecting the sunlight.  
"thank God! it was about time!" Yoma stood up and stretched her arms, yawning.  
the others slowly stood up as well. the only one who seemed grumpy was Kouji.  
"what's wrong, brother?" asked Kouichi carefully.  
"nothing." the answered, putting his bandanna.  
"c'mon, buddy, cheer up!" Takuya slapped his back. "we're finally gonna move! I'm getting sick of this forest."  
"yeah."  
"how are we gonna get down this cliff?" asked Tommy, who was already out of the cave and and looked down.  
"easy! we're gonna spirit evolve!" smiled JP.  
"just for going down there?" Yoma raised her eyebrow.  
"do you have any other suggestions?" muttered Kouji.  
"no. but I think it's pretty stupid to..." she stopped talking and turned towards the forest.  
"what is ti?" asked Zoe.  
"I thought I heard something. maybe it's the Flymon."  
"that's even a better reason to evolve!" shouted JP.  
"I'm not sure, though..."  
"Brown Stingers!" the sting fell right next to Yoma. she made a few steps back.  
"what do you think of my idea now?!" asked JP.

"Atomic Inferno!" The cannons on Aldamon's hands released thousands of rocketing fireball missiles at a few Flymon. "Beowulfmon, cover up the others!" he shouted at his friend.  
"but..."  
"no 'but's! I have business with those guys anyway!! Solar Wind Destroyer!!"  
The fireball hit three of the Flymon. they fell down and their fractal code appeared.  
"Cleansing Light!" Beowulfmon fired missiles and a laser at a few other insects, trying to sneak up from behind the group.  
"we don't have a choice but to get down somehow!" shouted Aldemon.  
"I think I see a way down! it's..." started Yoma, but was cut by one of the Flymon, who used the moment when no one noticed him:  
"Poison Powder!" the dust fell over the girl and she started caughing. then passed out and fell on the ground.  
"Yoma!" shouted Kouichi. she had gone further from the grounp and by the time he got there, the Flymon had got her in his legs.  
the rest of the insects, seeing how they got accomplished their mission, stopped fighting and followed their leader.

'don't just stand there, do something!!' thought Bewolfmon, but couldn't move. then he sighed and de-evolved.

Takuya de-evolved as well and stared at the faraway spots.  
"I guess the only thing we could do right now is to get to that castle." he said. Kouji stood beside him.  
"yeah."  
"hey, that's the path she was talking about!" said Zoe and pointed at a way through the solid rocks.  
JP looked down it.  
"looks safe." he muttered.  
"right. let's go."  
"and let's hurry." added Tommy.

"Lady Elfmon?"  
"it had better be good news, Gotsumon."  
"it is, m'lady. we got her. I mean, they got her."  
"finally." the woman smirked.

_TO BE CONTINUED..._

------------------------------------------

"we all have business with her, but you don't see other digimon running towards the Castle, do you?"

------------------

"Someone must've taken them."  
"are you looking for this?"

------------------------------------

maybe this was alil' boring, but I wanted to say more about how the guys met Y.G.

hope you liked (:


	8. Chapter 8

**IMPORTANT - since I checked around some DF fics (and others Digimon sequals for that matter) and I figured that one year is just too short a time bteween two - let's call it that way- seasons. so now DF02 happns 2 years after the original series. I'm gonna change some bits, nothing you should worry about (:**** thought u should know. **

**also, it's now called 'DF02 - White Rose', since I already saw 2 fics that are under the name Digimon Frontier 02. tnx for the attention, and Njoy (: **

oh, and Kouzumi and Junzumi fans - I apologize in advance, i hope you can enjoy this chapter even with the SLIGHT Takumi touch in it (:

08. Castle Of Elements 

after the group finally went down, they found an unknown train station. luckely, Angler passed by short after they discovered the place.

"the Castle of elements? all lines to there were cut some time ago. it's forbidden. can't take you. sorry." he said and looked away with his single eye.  
"oh, come on! it's omportant!" said Takuya.  
"no."  
"please?" Zoe made her sweetest experssion and looked straight into Angler's eye. he blushed and sighed.  
"well, I **guess** I could take you to a place nearby..." he muttered.  
"yes!" JP jumped happily.  
"thank you!" Tommy clapped hands.  
"jump on." the doors opened and the kids entered. they all sat down and looked outside as Angler continued riding through the forest.

"y'know... it's kind of quiet around here." said Zoe finally.  
"yeah, without Kouji and Yoma grabbing each others throats once every ten minutes!" laughed Takuya.  
"we were not. she was just arguing with me all the time." responded Kouji.  
"I think not." smiled Kouichi "I think you were the one attacking."  
his brother just sighed and rolled his eyes.

"tell me, why do you need to go to that place anyway?" shouted Angler from up front.  
"we have business with Elfmon." answered Takuya and went on the little balcony in order to talk easily.  
"you mean the Lady? we all have business with her, but you don't see other digimon running towards the Castle, do you?" the Trailmon looked at the boy.  
"yeah, but we were sent by Lady Ophanimon." Zoe stuck her head outside.  
"I see. well, then, what are we waiting for?! hang on!!" smiled Angler and suddenly and after they were riding as fast as the wind.  
"wohoo!" Takuya smiled. Zoe laughed and stood next to him. both JP and Tommy went on the balcony that was on the other side.  
"when we'll be there?" shouted Kouichi from inside.  
"oh, I dunno... somewhat this evening!"  
"good."

Kouji looked at his brother and then at his knees.  
'I never thought I'd say this, but... I miss her.' he thought 'I guess I cared about her. oh, who am I kidding?! I always did! I just feel so guilty... knowing I could've done something but I didn't.'  
he put a hand on his forhead.  
"no need to feel sorry. it's not your fault, you know." said Kouichi without even a trace of smile.  
the otehr boy just listened to to his friends' laughter.  
"am I the only one who's concerned?" he finally asked.  
"let them enjoy. I have the feeling the real fights are yet to come."  
"you don't seem to be in a good mood either."  
Kouichi just shrugged and leaned back. JP, who was just peeking inside, couldn't help but smile. Even though the twins were so different form one another… both of them acted the same cold and distant way.

later, in the evning, Takuya and Zoe were still standing on the balcony.  
"we're close." said Angler and smiled.  
"thats' good." Takuya closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  
"you think we'll find her? Yoma I mean." asked Zoe.  
"sure. don't worry about a thing." Takuya took the girl's hand and smiled. "I'm not going to let anyone harm you, or the others."  
Zoe blushed. she looked up to his eyes.  
"yeah..." muttered Takuya and his smiled slowly faded away. his face was closer to hers. both felt like everything was happenening in slow motion. then their lips met and they both closed their eyes. after a second Takuya made a step back and let go. both of them smiled and then Zoe hugged him.

"how far is it?" asked Kouji and stuck his head out the window.  
"we're here!!" Angler stopped moving.  
"but... that's the middle of nowhere!" shouted JP.  
"that's the place."  
"what do you mean, 'this is the place'?! there isn't a single building here, and about a castle I don't even..." started JP.  
"wait! look! over there!!" Zoe pointed. and she was right. even though it was already dark, it could be seen that on the spot she was showing them, there was a huge castle.  
"told'ya this was it." Angler opened the doors. "now, if you don't mind... I don't like this place."  
"sure thing. thank you very much for the lift!" Takuya, followed by the others, jumped out.  
"do you happen to have some of this wonderful food?" asked the trailmon with hope.  
"you mean chocolate? let's see..." JP looked in his pocket and pulled out a piece. "sorry..." the boy tapped his side with an apologizing look.

"oh well.."  
"thanks again!" the kids waved as the Trailmon made a turn and disappeared behind the trees.

"this looks like the begining of the desert." Kouichi tried to see anything in the dark.  
"I wonder how can we see this castle so clearly in tis darkness." muttered Tommy and raised his eyebrow.  
"you right. it looks like it's shining... or something like that." muttered Zoe.  
"well, what are we waiting for?" asked Takuya and smiled "let's go!"  
"wait a second, Takuya. I suggest we spirit evolve first." said Kouji.  
"right. but we're too many. we won't be able to sneak in quietly..."  
"Grenade Destroyer!"  
the kids turned around.  
"looking for something?" there were many Guardromon, surrounding from all sides.  
"I have the feeling that the element of surprise isn't gonna work..." whispered Tommy.  
"right." muttered Takuya.

"get out of my way!!" shouetd Elfmon at a couple of Guardramon.  
they quickly moved aside, staring wt the Gotsumon with pity. he seemed like he's going to faint from fear.  
"L-lady, you said that if a-anyone comes to the g-grounds of the castle, we sh-shou..." he started with a shaky voice.  
"what did I say about the kids?! 'do not attack them unless I say so!!" she screamed. "am I surrounded by idiots?! stop following me!!" she added and kept walking towards the gate.  
"ye-yes, M'lady." squeked Gotsumon and froze. the sighed and wiped out the sweat from his forhead. "oh, my, oh my. poor kids. I don't even want to think what awaits them..."

"the Lady!" suddenly shouted one of the Guardromon.  
"what? whare?"  
Takuya looked around. suddenly, without any warning, the whole team was surrounded by light... then something hit.

"Where... are we?" Takuya slowly opened his eyes. He was lying on the ground. then looked up and saw the others. it seemed as if they just woke up as well.  
"What happened?" asked JP.  
"As far as I remember, something hit us." Kouji looked around.  
They were in a very big, white room. There were all kinds of plant-looking ornaments on the walls.  
"It's pretty." said Zoe and approached the wall. In the middle of her way, she suddenly bumped into something and fell.  
"are you okay?" Takuya helped her up.  
"I think so..."  
"Looks like an invisible wall of somekind..." Kouichi placed his hand in where the wall had to be.  
had to be.  
"did any of you guys notice that Tommy's not here?" said Zoe. The others looked around.  
"Well, let's get outta here and find him! ...Hey! My D-tector's gone!!" Takuya looked in his other pocket. It was empty as well.  
"mine too!" noticed JP.  
"Someone must've taken them." said Kouji.  
"Thank you, I had no idea!"  
"are you looking for this?"  
The kids looked to the direction of the voice. All of them froze when they saw who was standing in front of them.

_TO BE CONTINUED..._

-------------------------------------

ehehe... I love cliffhangers :D pls review or tell me what u think at any other way, I really need opinions. tnx a lot for reading (:


	9. Chapter 9

**PLEASE R&R!**

09. The Whole Truth Part 1  
(The Ultimate Secret)

It was a tall woman with a long brown dress that looked as if it was coming from the ground and somehow was like one with the woman. She also had a very long hair, green with a little bit of brown. Her skin was dark green with lighter parts, like scratches. She was smiling. Her eyes were cat-like, cold, evil… and red. Deep red. She was holding Takuya's D-tector. Then handed it to a branch. To the kids' greatest surprise, it swallowed it to the ground.

"let me introduce myself. I am Elfmon. And you… I know who you are. You're the selected to fight next to the ten legendary warriors. "  
"That's right! And we're going to make you pay for everything you've caused to the Digital World!" shouted Takuya.  
"For someone who is helpless right now, you do have guts. Impressive. You know, I would think that you'd be more concerned about your friends." She grinned.  
"You're talking about Tommy, aren't you?" asked Takuya.  
"Yes, and not only him. But, of course, you don't really care about the girl, so..."  
"Yoma... Where is she?! What have you done to her?"  
shouted suddenly Kouji and jumped forward, but was topped by a bunch of plants, which captured him and made him stand still.  
"Yeah, we wanna speak with her!! And with Tommy too!" added Zoe.  
"oh, well, I guess no harm can come out of this..." the woman clapped her hands and a door on her side opened. Yoma stepped from behind it. Tommy was standing next to her. When they saw the team, both of them smiled.

"I'm so glad to see you." The girl made a few steps forward.  
"Yoma! Tommy! Are you okay?" asked Kouichi  
none of them responded. Just then the kids noticed that the other's eyes were empty.  
"They're controlled!" said Kouji, still unable to move because of the plants.  
"wake up!" shouted JP. Tommy and the girl just smiled.  
Then faded out.  
"What the... what's going on?"  
Suddenly Elfmon burst into laughter. It wasn't the typical evil laughter, but a bit childish, cheerful one.  
"Your expressions..." she muttered, still giggling  
"they were priceless!" The woman laughed again. All of the kids looked as if a lightning hit them. Kouji was the first one to speak.  
"You think that's funny?!" He tried to break free.  
"I'm surprised, Kouji. I would understand your anger because of Tommy, but the girl..."  
"Her name is Yoma!  
"...I thought you hated her." Elfmon looked serious now.  
"I didn't hate her! She was just... getting on my nerves sometimes!" Kouji blushed slightly.  
"You mean, often." smirked again the woman.  
"How do you know anyway?" asked Kouichi furiously.  
"did you really think I had no idea of your doings all this time?" She laughed.  
"Where... are... they?" asked Kouji again.  
"Your friends are safe and sound. And will remain that way."  
"We wanna see them!" said Zoe.  
"You did."  
"This time for real!!"  
"You're not really in the position to give out orders, don't you think?"  
"When we get back our D-tectors, we're gonna..."  
"don't worry, _Taki_. You'll have them when you need them."  
"And when's that?" muttered through teeth JP.  
"Patience, kids." She clapped her hands again and the plants let Kouji down.  
"Why are you doing all this?"  
"All what?"  
"controlling Digimon! Standing against us!"  
"It's always about you, isn't it? You know... There was a time, when they used to respect me."  
Elfmon turned around.  
"But then you came. And all those Digimon got the impression that you're the best." She closed her fists "Especially after you defeated Cherubimon and Lucemon. But I guess that the less you help, the less they notice you."  
"What are you talking about?"  
"About your huge ego!" She turned around. Her eyes were opened wide in anger. All around her plants started to grow extremely fast. It was quite obvious that Elfmon had lost her temper this time. "You think you're the strongest! The smartest! The best!"  
Her voice became more child-like. Here eyes were a little different. For half a second Kouichi thought that he saw Yoma's face. Just like when he saw his brother's face in Lobomon the first time they fought.

"Well, I am here to show you that I'm better! "  
Elfmon took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Seems like she'd calmed down a bit. Then she looked at the group and smiled again.  
'I bet it was only my imagination' thought Kouichi. 'no one else seems to have noticed.'  
"you're gonna see how wrong you were by assuming that you're the best. And how wrong you were, thinking that you knew me."  
"knew you? We've never seen you before!" Takuya knit his brows.  
"Often things are right before us and we can't notice them, bacause we don't know how to look." said the woman.  
"quit the riddles and just tell us what you mean!" shouted the boy.

Elfmon just grinned. Then she closed her eyes. Her fractal code appeared spinning around her. After it disappeared, she looked straight into Takuya's eyes. The girl still had green scars on her face - for some reason - but it was no doubt that it was no other than Yoma.

The kids froze in amazement. From everybody the most shocked seemed to be Kouji. His breathing became shallow and it seemed like he was looking right through Yoma. She, on the other hand, had an even bigger smirk on her face.  
"it's you!" exclaimed Zoe.  
"but how... when... why..." muttered JP.  
"How, you ask. Easy. Elfmon is my spirit form. When? About a day after we arrived in the digital world. And why? Well... you know that." Her smile faded out "because you think you're better than me. You never treated me like a part of the group."  
"That's not true!" shouted Takuya.  
"isn't it?! Didn't Kouji argue with every word that came out of my mouth?! Didn't the rest of you ignore me?" She shouted back. "I won't bare this anymore. Besides, it was fun messing with your minds."  
"but... the Flymon took you and... snap out of it! She's controlling you!" shouted Kouichi.  
"I'm a good actress, aren't I?" she grinned. Then her eyes suddenly became empty and she looked just like on the cliff, when Elfmon called them to the castle. Yoma's face turned back to the evil grin and she laughed.  
The kids looked at each other with amazement.  
"how could she..."  
"Take them underground!" She continued. Four Flymon flied in and surrounded the kids.  
"come on!" said one of them.  
The group moved towards the big white doors. Kouichi threw a last look back only to see how Yoma spirit evolved into Elfmon again.

'Without a D-tector…?'

----------------------------

"I wanna speak to Elfmon! Now!"

------------------------------

"A little late for that, don't you think?"  
"let me finish."

--------------------------


	10. Chapter 10

10. The Whole Truth Part 2  
(The courage to face it)

"Guys!"  
"Tommy! Are you okay?" asked JP.  
"I'm fine... What happened?" He stared at Kouji as he passed by. "You look like you're back from a funeral. Is something wrong?" asked the youngest member of the group.  
"Not something. Everything." muttered Zoe.  
"What are you talking about?" Tommy looked rather amazed.  
"We just found out that this Elfmon is actually Yoma's spirit form." said Kouichi.  
"No way!"  
"You said it." nodded Takuya.  
The kids were in a large cell, which, like the rest of the castle, had white walls and ornaments on the walls.

For hours now they were all silent. Finally, JP spoke.  
"We have to find a way to get out of here." He looked through the cell bars.  
"But how? She took our D-tectors!" Said Takuya "that nasty piece of plant..." he muttered.  
"She was right." Said Zoe "we did act like we didn't care about her. It's our own fault. "  
"How can you say that! She's the one who never agreed with us!"  
"No, you're wrong" said Tommy. "We were the ones who never listened to her."  
"Yeah, and what now? We're gonna sit here and do nothing?" greeted Takuya from behind teeth.  
"I'm going to talk to her." said Kouji and stood up.  
"Oh, look! He finally decided to open his mouth! And what exactly are you going to tell her?"  
"That, Takuya, is none of your business." Kouji was still staring straight forward.  
"Of course it is! We're a team, remember?"  
The boy just passed by him and shouted:  
"hey! You!" the two guarding Flymon turned to him.  
"what do you want, kid?"  
"I wanna speak to Elfmon! Now!"

"er... Lady Elfmon?"  
"what is it, Gotsumon?"  
"this kid, Kouji, says he wanted to talk to you."  
"interesting. Well, bring him here."

"erm..."  
"leave us."  
"Yes, Lady Elfmon." The Gotsumon bowed and went out, closing the heavy door.  
"What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" asked the diigmon, turning into her old self, Yoma.  
"When are you going to release us?" asked Kouji.  
"Whenever I decide."  
"Why do you even keep us here?"  
"I have my reasons." She answered, still with her back to Kouji.  
"Listen, Yoma..." he stopped talking for a second. "I won't pretend that I much care about… all that. I came here to tell you something… else. " His voice started to shake.  
"I thought so."  
"will you look at me?" Suddenly Kouji seemed to have lost all his confidence.  
The girl sighed and turned around. Here eyes were cold and furious.  
"What is it?"  
"I... I wanted to tell you... now I understand that I should've mentioned something before... but anyway. I wanted to tell you... that... well... I'm sorry for the way I acted towards you." He started.  
The girl sneered.  
"A little late for that, don't you think?"  
"let me finish. The thing is that, well... I... I don't hate you, Yoma. I... was just... a little jealous. You never seemed to notice me. I would never be mad at my brother, but sometimes... I was getting a little angry that everything you asked, you asked him. Or the others. You never talked to me unless I told you something first… and that's why… well I was just trying to get your attention I guess."  
She said nothing.  
"and... There was something I realized after you... after you went away. And I can't help it that..." Kouji took a deep breath "I think… I fell in love with you."

'Love'. That word made Yoma freeze. Her eyes opened wide. Suddenly everything that Elfmon ever told her - 'they don't care about you! They never did!' - got mixed with that word. She felt the same way she felt when she woke up in the hospital 7 years ago - dizzy, with blurred images floating through her head, not being able to connect either of them.

She finally found her voice. It was cold and angry, just like her eyes.  
"You've been mean, you've been cross, you've been cold, but this, Kouji Minamoto..." her breathing became shallow. Her fists closed tightly. She was starting to lose it again.  
"This is what MADE YOU CROSS THE RED LINE!" Yoma turned around and before Kouji could realize it, he was thrown against the wall by an energy blast. He shook his head and looked up, trying to catch his breath.  
"What are you so angry about?" He asked.  
"I'll tell you what I'm so angry about!" Yoma shouted back. "did you seriously think that by telling me that you'll make me come to your side again? Well, you were wrong!" She started throwing energy blasts without actually aiming at anything.  
"That was not why I told you! I told you because this may be the only opportunity I have!"  
"and you want me to believe you!"  
Kouji thought he saw tears in her eyes. 'that's not... possible... is it?' he thought.

"I... Yoma..."  
"shut up!" she shouted again. "just shut up, Kouji!"  
Carefully, he stood up.

_'let me take care of this'_ Said a voice in Yoma's head.

_'no.'_ She responded._'I won't let you take control. This is my problem.'_

"guards!"  
Two Guardramon came in.  
"lead him back to the cell." she turned back into Elfmon.  
"yes, Lady. Move it, kid!"  
"and when you get back, Kouji... tell Takuya that he'll finally get what he wanted - a fight." she said and grinned.

"c'mon! Where is he!" Takuya hit the wall with his fist.  
"calm down. I'm sure he's ok." Zoe approached and put a hand on his shoulder. Takuya looked at her and smiled.  
"yeah, you're probably right."  
JP was staring outside with an empty expression and Tommy was circling the room nervously.  
"he... "started suddenly Kouichi, who was sitting on the ground. "he's... something's wrong." he finished.  
The feeling was strange... Kouji wasn't hurt, but there was something about him... his feelings perhaps... he's worried about something.  
"he's not hurt, is he?" asked Tommy.  
Before the boy could answer, JP said:  
"hey, look! Kouji's back!"  
The all turned towards the cell's door.  
"get in, kid!" the Guardramon pushed him. Kouji didn't say anything. He just went in and stood in the middle of the room, without making any eye contact with anyone.  
"well?" said Takuya.  
"what 'well'?" responded Kouji, still staring at his feet.  
"did you ask her when she's gonna let us go?"  
"yes."  
"and...?" the boy with goggles made a step forward.  
"She didn't tell me."  
"did you ask what she wants with us?"  
"yes."  
"well?"  
"Takuya, leave me alone. She said she's gonna fight us." Kouji hissed.  
Then furiously passed by and leaned on the wall next to his brother. Kouichi looked at him for a second, then said:  
"that's not all, right?"  
"the rest doesn't concern you! not you, not anybody!" suddenly shouted the boy with the bandanna.  
"okay, calm down. we just wanna help." JP put his arms up in a protective pose.  
"yeah, well, I'd perfure you wouldn't."  
Takuya grabbed the forwards of his jacket and pushed him against the wall.  
"listen, buddy, I dunno what happened there, but appearently what you said made her angry enough to attack you!"  
"how do you even know she attacked me!"  
"don't be stupid, Kouji, you have scratches all over your face! that's even a bigger reason to knock her out!"  
"stop it, you two." Kouichi stood up.  
"don't tell me to to stop it!" shouted Takuya "we're worried, and he hisses at us! we're supposed to be a team! and that means we're friends! which means we help each other!"  
"alright then! how would you react if I said..." started Kouji "...if I said that I told her how I feel!That I told her… I… I mean how I feel despite the way I had acted so far!"  
a complete silence fell. Takuya slowly let go of his freind and looked down at his feet. he knew exactly what was passing through everybody's mind.  
"I didn't... I had no idea. I mean… I thought so at first, but…" he finally muttered.  
"yeah, well..." hissed Kouji. "now leave me alone."  
"right."  
they all turned around. Kouji sat again. the only one who didn't move was Kouichi.  
'no... this can't be... right? he... can't... have feelings towards her... what am I going to do now!'

_TO BE CONTINUED..._


	11. Chapter 11

11

11. Out of control (the ultimate power)

"mmf..." Kouichi opened his eyes slowly.  
"it was about time. I thought you'd never wake up." Said a voice.  
"huh?" he sat and noticed that the rest of the team were waking up just now. they were lying on what seemed to be sand.  
"our D-tectors!" shouted Takuya and jumped over to the spot where the devices were lying.  
he threw every one to its rightful owner and then turned to the direction of the voice.  
"you." muttered JP.  
"yes, me. what did you expect?" Yoma sneered with a smile. she was sitting on what seemed like a rock, about ten meters away from the group.  
"I told you you'll get your D-tectors when you need them."  
"yeah, and it's going to be your mistake!" shouted Takuya.  
"EXECUTE!! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!!" they all ahouted. the girl just grinned.

"Howling Laser!!" Lobomon fired a burst of energy at the girl. after the dust from the attack cleared out, she was nowhere to be seen.  
"surprise!" he looked up. "Lobo Kendo!"  
Lobomon escaped in the last minute.  
"when did she evolve?!" asked Beetlemon with surprise, seeing the attacker was Elfmon.  
"that doesn't really matter now!" shouted Kazemon back. "Tempest Twist!!"  
"missed me!" laughed Elfmon again.  
Beetlemon opened his mouth, but the woman was quicker:  
"Thunder Fist!!"  
"how is she doing this?!" asked Kumamon with amazement.  
"seems like you're gonna have a hard time defeating me, eh?" she asked, the smile not leaving her lips for one single second.  
"taht's it! no more nice guys for you!" shouted Agunimon, evolving back into Takuya. then he combined his two spirits and turned into Aldemon.  
"Solar Wind Destroyer!!" he raised his hands in the air and gathered energy into a dense fire ball then threw it at Elfmon. at this time Kumamon had evolved into Korikakumon in order to get stronger.  
"ha! that should've got her... what?!" the woman was standing in front of him with her usual grin. she didn't even have a scratch on her face.  
"but... but... how?!"  
"Frozen Arrowheads!!" Korikakumon wrapped the arrows on his braids around her. she just giggled. then looked up into his eyes. he froze.  
"Shadow Meteor!!" she shouted. the dark power exploded and Kurikakumon was thrown at a rock nearby, de-evolving back into his human form.  
"Tommy! are you okay?!" shouted Beetlemon.  
"I... think... so..." the boy's fractal code appeared, while he slowly sat.  
"I can't belive it... she's using our own attacks to defeat us!" Lowmon moved his eyes towards the woman in disbelief.  
" Lightning Blitz!!" shouted Beetlemon.  
"plant shield." responded Elfmon calmly. a wall of green plants appeared in front of her and blocked the attack.  
"tell me, what did you do to make Yoma your little puppy?" asked suddenly Lowemon.  
"my puppy? why, she's simply helping me. I needed phisical form, she needed power. so... thunder fist!" she added and attacked Agunimon, who was trying to sneak up from behind.  
"I don't believe you!" now JagerLowemon was standing on the ground.

"you're talking too much. I'll think you don't have the guts to attack." Giggled the woman-like digimon.  
"you know, Yoma, or Elfmon, or whoever you are now, I think you're just a fake!" shouted Beetlemon. she froze. then slowly turned to him.  
"what did you say?" she whispered in anger.  
"I mean, come on! so far you haven't attacked with your a power of your own! we'll think you don't have any!" he shouted.  
Elfmon's sides sharpened.  
"JP... I don't think ths is good idea..." whispered Kazemon.  
"I wanna see what she's gonna do..."  
"so... you want creativity? then I swear, you'll GET CREATIVITY!!"  
she started gathering power from all around her into the hands. between them appeard a big light ball. It looked like it was containing power from all elements.  
"I don't like this..." started Aldemon.  
"COMBINATION SPHERE!!" the light ball hit its target.

all the kids were lying on the ground and growling in pain.  
"okay... we don't have a choice... Kouji..." Takuya looked at his friend and they both nodded.

"Pyro Dragons!!" EmperorGreymon hit the ground with his sword and generated nine fiery dragons, which he sent towards Elfmon.  
she escaped the attack.  
the rest of the team were behind a big rock, staring at EmperorGreymon and MagnaGarurumon attack.  
"you think they're gonna make it?" asked Zoe.  
"they have to." responeded JP.  
"c'mon guys..." whispered Tommy.

"Magna Missiles!!" MagnaGarurumon launched missled at the woman.  
"Plant shield!!" the wall appeared.  
"you can't protect yourself forever!" shouted EmperorGreymon.  
Elfmon muttered something and flew over to behind the rock. she started gathering energy into her hands again. just then she noticed the look in Kouichi's eyes. there was somethng so strange about it... Yoma, who was in control now, knit her brows.

_'attack.'_ said a voice in her head. the girl took a deep breath. then shook her head.  
_'I... can't... I...'_ she started.  
_'attack! this maybe your last chance!!'_  
_'but...'_ she didn't even notice how the sphere in her hands started losing power. all she could see was Kouichi's stare.

"Magna Missiles!" shouted MagnaGarurumon at the same time when EmperorGreymon said: "Dragonfire Crossbow!!"

the explodion was enormeus.  
"we got her now!" said EmperorGreymon.  
"I...think so." muttered the other digimon. I'm sorry. I had to do this...

Yoma was lying one her ground with her face down. Elfmon was standing above her.  
"fool." muttered the woman and looked up.  
"huh? how come... they're..." started JP.  
"seperated? are you so surprised?" asked Elfmon. "I gathered enough power. I won't need her anymore, now when I have more phisical form. poor girl. never found out what I was planning..."  
"so you **did** control her!!" shouted MagnaGarurumon.  
"no, I didn't. half of what happened was her idea, you know. enough reasons to hate the girl." she grinned. "now if you'll excuse me... I have something I ahve to do. we'll meet again... next time I won't be so easy on you." the woman disappeared.  
"come back here!!" shouted Tommy.  
the two digimon de-evolved back into Takuya and Kouji. the whole team surrounded Yoma. Kouichi went on his knees and turned her around, so now her face was up.  
"she seems asleep." muttered Zoe.  
"well, we can't leave her here, right?" said JP.  
"I guess not." responded Kouji.  
"now what are we gonna do?" Tommy looked around.  
"you think she's in the castle?" asked Zoe.  
"no. I think she's headed somewhere else... just where?" Takuya looked towards the huge building.  
"let's go find the train station." he finally said.  
the others nodded. Kouichi carried the girl in his hands. she mumbled something about mirrors and drops of sweat ran down her cheeks.  
the boy looked down at her.  
you'll be alright. I hope. he thought.

_TO BE CONTINUED..._


	12. Chapter 12

12. Love, hurt… and broken dreams

(Broken memories part 1)

Original title: the lesser evil

"So… where do you wanna go?" asked Angler and looked at Takuya with his one eye.

"Lets' see… how about the Burgermon's village? I'm really hungry." Responded the boy.

"To the Burgermon's village then! Hold on!"

Takuya went back inside and looked at his friends.

None of them made a sound. They were all thinking about the past days. Who would think that Yoma, from all people…

Zoe sighed.

Takuya sat beside her and leaned back. He noticed that Kouichi didn't move a single millimeter from his position. He was still staring at Yoma, (who was lying on the seat), and was jumping by her every movement.

he seems really worried. thought JP and then turned to Kouji and his brother too. Man, I still can't believe he said what he said.

"Well, the work's half done." Finally said Takuya, feeling that he had to say something to cheer his teammates up. "All we have to do now is catch Elfmon and we're done! Right?" he looked around. "Best part is, now we're finally gonna eat!" he added. Hearing this, Zoe, JP and Tommy looked up and slightly smiled. Only the twins seemed far away.

"Hmm-ff…"

Yoma shook her head and opened her eyes. Then sat.

"What's… going on? Where am I? Where are the Flymon?"

"The Flymon?" Takuya raised his eyebrow. JP and Tommy looked at each other.

"Yeah… man. This must've been some poisonous dust, keeping me asleep through you fighting them… right? Are we on the way to the castle?"

"Stop it, Yoma. You're not getting us twice with that." Finally muttered Zoe.

"What are you talking about?"

"As if you don't know." Hissed Kouji.

"You really don't remember?" finally asked his brother.

"I remember I had a weird dream. I was in that big white castle. And I fought you guys. But that crazy, right?" she sneered. "And I also remember something with Kouji…" the girl knit her brows.

"You know very well what I said, so stop pretending." He mumbled through teeth.

"What… you mean… this… wasn't a dream…? You're teasing me right?" Yoma laughed nervously. She turned to her right "Kouichi, this is a joke, right?"

The boy just shook his head. Yoma's smile faded. She covered her mouth with a shaky hand.

"No… this… can't be…Why…? What… have I… what have I done? What was I thinking?!"

Her eyes suddenly widened.

"What did you say?" the girl looked the others.

"We're completely silent." Said Zoe.

"Then who was that? Can't you hear?!"

"Hear what?" Kouichi looked at her with total confusion.

'_Give up, girl! You're never going to win! Never!!'_

Yoma looked around. where are those voices coming from?! She thought and why do I still feel like it was all just a dream?!

"I don't think this is acting." Said JP.

"You think Elfmon maybe doing something to her?" Tommy really looked worried.

"But why?"

They turned again to Yoma. She'd placed two fingers on her forehead. Her eyes were still widened and she'd bitten her down lip.

"I'm so sorry…" she finally muttered. "Why… why did you… why did you bring me here? After everything… I… did…" the girl blinked.

"We couldn't just leave you, right? Besides, we have more important things to do right now. We have to find Elfmon." said Kouji. The girl looked at him and opened her mouth, but was cut by Angler:

"We have arrived!"

"Kids! We're so glad to see you!" the Burgermon surrounded them.

"Hey, guys! What's up? Having any trouble with the Chameleomon lately?" asked Takuya.

"No, not after you came!" smiled the father. "We still can't thank you enough for making this delicious flavor, Tommy!" he winked and the boy smiled.

"I'm glad I could help."

"I don't think you know my brother?" Kouji pushed his twin forward.

"Hi!" he smiled and shook the mother's hand. The little Burgermon surrounded his head in squeaks.

"And… this is Yoma." Zoe pointed at the red-headed girl.

"Hello." She muttered.

_'those are the Digimon Elfmon was talking about? The unwelcoming and rude ones?! Why did I believe her? Why?! And I still can't remember **everything** from what happened in the Castle… although… Kouji… I was so mean to him…'_

"What can we do for you?" asked the mother.

"Well… we're kinda hungry… and we'll probably stay overnight." Takuya looked at his friends and they nodded.

"Alright then! Come with us!"

"Aaaaah. I don't think I can eat another bite!" Tommy put a hand on his stomach.

They were sitting in front of the big wooden house.

"I'm glad" smiled one of the Burgermon. "Now we have to get beck to our shop."

The kids nodded.

"That's the best meal I've had in months!" added Takuya and leaned back. Then he lost balance and fell.

"Too full to even move normally?" laughed Zoe.

"Hey!" the boy looked up. Then started laughing right along with the others. Even Yoma smiled a bit.

everything is like pieces of a dream… a long forgotten dream… I can't really connect one image with another… especially from that fight… but I still remember what Elfmon told me in the river. The girl shivered. how could I believe her?

A few hours later, the whole group was inside the house, around a big table, discussing Elfmon's possible destination.

"Yoma, do you know something?" asked Zoe and turned to the read-headed girl.

"Let's see..." she muttered and rolled her eyes, trying to remember. "I think... I think yes. Elfmon said something about going to the real world... and controlling it… something like that. She wasn't very clear. Whatever it was, it was dangerous. But it needed a lot more power than she has now." The girl looked at Zoe.

"This means we have to get back to the station. As far as I know, this is the only way to get from one world to another." Said JP.

"Yeah but then what?" asked Tommy.

"We'll decide all this tomorrow! Tonight we're gonna get a nice sleep, I'm sure nothing bad will happen for just one night. We need rest." Takuya yawned.

"You can say that again. I'm exhausted!"

"Look, the sun's going down already. When did time pass?" Zoe looked outside.

"Weeeell... lets' see... a fight, a victory, a little train traveling..." Takuya counted on his fingers. "Considering the fight was a long one too... and we did great... hmmm... I think that answers your question."

After a couple of giggles, the others burst into laughter.

'I missed all that?' Yoma's sides sharpened.

Then she stood up, went down the corridor and then turned left to the balcony. Kouichi stared at her passing by, and after a couple of seconds walked after her.

'that's it. I'm telling her this time.'

Yoma stood on the balcony, looking at the sky. The sun was going down, surrounded by many clouds in all the shades of orange.

Kouichi got closer.  
"beautiful, isn't it?" he asked with a smile.  
"yah" nodded the girl.  
he stood beside her. then said:  
"it's a similar color to your hair, you know?"  
She giggled.

"Right. and now you're gonna tell me I'm as pretty as it too. please, KK."  
"well, you are." he looked at her strangely. his smile went away.  
"I never knew you write poetry, Kouichi." she smiled at him.  
"I'm not kidding." Kouichi turned to the sunset again.  
"eh…" Yoma's smile disappeared and she blushed.

"Thanks, Kouichi. if you intented to cheer me up, I must say you succeeded."  
"no, I'm serious. I... don't know how to say it, but... I..."

'c'mon, just say it. 'I love you'. It can't be too hard…'

"I think that… you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

'great. I blew it.'

"You're Kouji's twin, alright." She said. "I never knew you two feel the same things, though."

The boy just shrugged.

"Why?" Suddenly muttered Yoma, her voice has suddenly changed.

"Hm?" Kouichi looked at her. The girl had tears in her eyes. Her voice was shaky and insecure.

"What did you say?" He added.

"Why? Why are you… why are you even talking to me? As if you forgave me."

"I didn't."

"Then why…"

"That's because I was never really mad at you" Kouichi smiled and turned to look at the sky.

"Wha-what? How… come? After everything I did… I don't… I don't even deserve to be here!" The tears started falling down her cheeks.

"It wasn't your fault."

"Don't say that. You know it's not… not true! I… I… how did I deserve you being here?! I don't even know why the others are talking to me! And you… I…"

The girl suddenly broke down. That was her limit.

When she was with Kouichi, she felt like telling him everything... she felt so safe when he was around. And this made her feel even guiltier.

"I care about you. That's why." Kouichi removed her hand from her face and helped her up. He didn't quite know what to do, since he realized that this was the first time Yoma was breaking down.

"And the others… well, as I said, it wasn't entirely your fault. Calm down."

The girl blinked. Her hands were shaking and her thoughts were stuck.

"And besides… I… I… er…" the boy started and blushed really hard.

Yoma understood. She didn't need more words than this.

She jumped forward, and still with tears running down her cheeks, kissed him. His eyes widened. but after a second they closed.

Kouji, who right at that moment passed by the door to the balcony, stopped dead when he saw them kissing. he felt like something inside of him broke into pieces. then, his arms closed into fists. his whole body was shaking.

Kouji wanted to turn away. He wanted to keep walking. But he couldn't move.

'how could I be so stupid?' he though 'it was plain obvious that she liked Kouichi. Why didn't I see it coming?! How could I have missed it? How?!'

"Hey, buddy." Takuya tapped his shoulder. "Wassup?"

"Nothing." Kouji finally closed his eyes and turned around. He went down the corridor on the way to the kitchen.

Takuya looked outside. Then back at Kouji. Yoma was just backing away.

"oh." The boy with the goggles then followed his friend. "I'm sorry."

"Yea, well… whatever. Count me out the next few hours."

Kouji turned to his right, entered his and Kouichi's room and closed the door.

The girls were in one room, the twins in another, and Takuya, Tommy and JP- in a third.

"Do you really think we'll beat her?" the youngest member of the group sat on the bed. "Elfmon, I mean."

"Sure!" Takuya smiled and put his D-tector on the desk. "We have to!"

"Takuya… Do you think… do you think we can trust Yoma?" asked Tommy and looked up at his friend. The other one thought a minute.

"I'm not sure." He finally said "we can't be sure of anything."

"right." Nodded the other one.

Kouji looked at his brother. Kouichi was staring outside, and had a big smile on his face. The long-haired boy could actually **feel** his happiness. And maybe that was what pissed him off the most.

'I wonder how come I know he's pleased about something, but he doesn't understand I'm bothered.' he thought furiously.

"I'm exhausted." Kouichi yawned. suddenly, without even knowing why, Kouji's emotions exploded.

'At nights like this you forget that there are evil Digimon like Elfmon.' thought JP and looked up at the sky. It was already dark, and he'd decided to take a little walk around the village.

Everything was quiet and still. The moonlight was covering the path in front of him, making the shadows look even darker.

The boy smiled.

i't's really beautiful. I can't imagine how someone would want to destroy all this.' his smile faded out and JP sighed. 'I guess I have to get back now.'

He turned around, passed by all the houses, until he finally found the right one.

when he got in, closer to his bedroom, he suddenly heard voices. like someone was shouting. JP carefully opened the door to the twins' room to find the most unmaginable scene.

The twins, who were always protecting each-others backs, the two people for whom it's less expected to stand against each-other, were now standing in front of one another, apparently pissed.

The moment JP was entering, Kouichi was saying:

"Again I ask you, Kouji: is this about Yoma? Because you know how I feel towards her?" Kouichi closed his fists.

"What if it is?!" shouted Kouji. "Do you have a problem?!"

"I don't! But apparently, you do!!"

"Shhh…" JP put a finger in front of his mouth. The two turned to him. "Calm down! First, because this argument doesn't make any sense, second because you'll wake the whole village! The Burgermon had a busy day, and we all have to get some normal sleep…"

"I'll get some normal sleep alright! Whenever I know some people are more serious!" Kouji attacked him now.

"I am serious!" responded his brother.

"By the way you're talking about what lies ahead, I don't think so!!" Kouji made a step forward. For some reason, he couldn't get the picture of Kouichi and Yoma out of his head. And this was making him even angrier.

"What's going on here?" Takuya stuck his head inside.

"You heard too?" Tommy looked inside form behind him. Zoe was approaching too.

"Of course I did, I bet the whole village heard those two!" Takuya shot a furious look at the twins.

"Whatever." Muttered Kouji.

"What is the problem?" asked Zoe curiously.

"From what I got it, the problem is big, and it has a name - Yoma. Right, guys?" JP glanced at the two. They didn't say anything.

"Well" started Takuya "you can do what I do when I fight with my brother - compromise." He turned to Kouji and added "is this about earlier?"

"Earlier?" JP, Tommy and Zoe looked at him. "What happened earlier?"

"Um… nothing. Lets' get go and leave them settle this." The boy laughed nervously and, followed by JP and Kouji's deadly look, closed the door.

"You saw?" finally asked Kouichi. His voice was insecure and rather embarrassed.

"Yah." Responded Kouji shortly.

"I… sorry."

Kouji just shrugged.

"I should've told you earlier. We wouldn't get to this." He said.

"Same here."

"JP was right, this argument makes no sense. We're brothers; we can't fight over a girl like this. It's stupid. Especially when this girl already likes one of us." Kouji turned to him and smiled sadly.

The other boy nodded and they shook hands.

Yoma, who was standing next to the door and listening, smiled with relief.

"Do you really have to leave so soon?" asked the mother Burgermon.

"There's a **plant **we have to take care of. A rather nasty one." Takuya said.

"Thank you very much for the hospitality." Added Zoe with a smile and hugged one of the little Burgermon.

"The pleasure is all ours!" smiled the father.

"there." The mother handed JP a little package. "In case you get hungry."

"Wow, thank you!" said Tommy.

"You welcome."

"Well… we're off!" shouted Takuya.

"Be sure to pass by someday!" The Burgermon gathered around and waved at the kids as they headed towards the station.

"Sure!" shouted back Zoe.

"Weren't you going to the real world?" asked Worm right before the kids got on.

The whole team turned to look at Yoma.

"Er… no, why?"

"c'mon, last night I gave you a ride!" insisted the Trailmon.

"I think I would've known." She smiled.

"Either I'm blind, or you're lying."

"Honest!! Besides, why would I go and then come back?" she asked with amazement.

"How should I know?"

The girl rolled her eyes and got on the train.

"What?!" she asked, noticing her teammates' stares.

"You… really didn't come here last night, right?" asked Tommy with suspicion.

"no, of course not. I wonder why Worm thinks I did…" the girl buried herself in thoughts.

"maybe Elfmon needed a ride." Takuya giggled.

"that's' it! Elfmon changed her form so she'd look like me!" Yoma looked up.

"I don't think she'll be using the Trailmon. With all the power she has…" muttered JP.

"She maybe strong, but she can't fly. Or use teleportation." Responded the girl calmly.

A few hours later, they were all in the middle of a discussion about a fighting strategy, when suddenly Worm hit the breaks so suddenly and sharply, that they all fell.

Takuya was the first one to jump back on his feet.

"Worm, what was that all about?!" he shouted.

For a minute there was a complete silence. Then the Trailmon said:

"What… happened here?"

"What're you talking about?!" Takuya looked outside. Then his eyes widened.

"Lady Ophanimon!" he shouted. "Worm, open those doors!! NOW!!"

The Trailmon didn't need anything else. The doors opened with a slam and the boy practically shot himself outside.

"Takuya, why are you… oh my god!" Zoe covered her mouth with a hand. The whole team was frozen.

Seraphimon and Cherubimon were lying a little bit ahead, next to the tracks. Ophanimon, covered with scratches and dust, was standing in front of the tunnel to the real world. Elfmon had faced her and was looking completely calm.

"I don't want to hurt you anymore, Ophanimon. Let me pass." She said.

"I can not do this."

The other woman rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Ophanimon. You can't stay there forever."

"I will if I have to. You will not enter the real world."

"Why are you protecting it? You've never been there, have you? Why do you even care?" sneered Elfmon.

"Because that's Lady Ophanimon - unlike you, she cares about others!!"

The woman turned around.

"Yoma… so… you came after all." She grinned.

"I didn't come here because you told me to." Hissed the girl.

"Lady Ophanimon, we'll take it from here. Right, buddy?"

Both Takuya and Kouji pulled out their D-tectors. So did all the others, except Yoma.

"You're going down!" shouted EmperorGreymon. Elfmon's grin only became bigger. Then she reached out her hand towards Ophanimon. Fractal code appeared around the angel-like Digimon and made its way towards Hamadryamon. Ophanimon closed her fists as the energy was sucked out of her body.

"Pretty pathetic, isn't it?" asked the plant-like Digimon.

"You…" MagnaGarurumon started shaking.

"What? Aren't you going to attack? Or you maybe afraid you'll hurt her?" Elfmon stopped the river of fractal code. Ophanimon tried to stand up again.

"Don't push yourself, it will only get worse."

"You… evil…" muttered Tommy.

"Starburst Hunter!!" MagnaGarurumon dashed forward, and, surrounding himself in an aura of light crashed into the place where Elfmon was standing. She, however, was quicker.

"Combination Sphere!!" the attack crashed into his back.

"Aah!"

"Inferno Fist!!" EmperorGreymon jumped forward.

"Missed again!!"

"Huh?" he moved away right on time to avoid his own attack.

"She's even quicker than she used to be..." Muttered Kouichi as they stared at MagnaGarurumon and EmperorGreymon attacking, but missing almost every single time.

"You think they ca keep up?" asked Tommy.

"Of course they can!" shouted JP. "They did before!"

"I wish… we could do something to help." Said Yoma and the other girl nodded.

"Dragonfire Crossbow!!"

Finally, Elfmon was hit. She fell on her knees.

"Starburst Hunter!!" MagnaGarurumon didn't even wait for her to turn around.

"Ugh..." Yoma shivered in pain. With every hit Elfmon was taking, the girl felt worse and worse.

"Are you alright?" asked Kouichi, who noticed her expression.

"Hurts… everywhere…" she muttered and fell on her knees, holding her stomach.

"what the…" Zoe looked at her, and then back at her friends.

"aah!"

This was the moment where Elfmon was attacked by both MagnaGarurumon and EmperorGreymon.

Drops of sweat were falling down Yoma's sides. Kouichi finally understood.

"Why… aren't… you… fighting back?!" shouted the wolf-like Digimon as he punched the evil Digimon again. "And STOP LAUGHING!!"

"Kouji! Don't attack! Stop it! Something's wrong!" shouted his brother. KendoGarurumon turned around. The read headed girl was still in pain and fighting to catch her breath.

"You get it now?" asked Elfmon, while standing up. "The more you attack me, the more you hurt your friend." She grinned.

Both of the attackers were stuck.

"what now?" muttered EmperorGreymon. "it's obvious that we can't destroy her."

By this time the girl was standing up slowly.

"how?" she muttered.

"it's simple. In order to have physical form, I needed fractal code." Started Elfmon.

"so… now… I'm the spirit?" asked Yoma.

"No. I was in you for so long that now we're one person. You're my other half. None of us can exist without the other. That's one of the reasons I had to keep you close."

"Takuya, watch out!" shouted Zoe. EmperorGreymon and KendoGarurumon were distracted by the digimon's talking, and they didn't notice the energy ball that was between her hands.

"COMBINATION SPHERE!!" the energy blast hit them with full strength.

After the dust cleared out, it revealed both Kouji and Takuya, lying on the ground with their fractal code around them. They groaned and slowly sat.

"this is worse than a nightmare…" muttered Kouji. Both the boys stood up.

"yeah. Now we can't do anything at all. And even if we seal her, we'll have to hurt her first."

The group approached them with running. Only Yoma was standing on one place.

'I know… I know what I have to do…' she pulled out her D-tector and stared at it. The girl smiled sadly and looked up.

"Elfmon… you're bounded with that device. It's the only thing, except me, that keeps you here." she started. The woman looked down.

"What are you talking about, girl?"

"Come on! You know that's true! The D-tector goes, you go!"

"Yes, but if I get hurt, the same thing will happen to you." Elfmon grinned.

"You really think I'm that selfish?"

"Yoma… you're not going to…" started Zoe. The other one just nodded.

"You can't! There's gotta be another way!" shouted Kouichi.

"Of course there is." Yoma didn't even look at him. "The choices are three: a) you seal her away, in which case she'll break free, just like Lucemon did. b) You all evolve to Susanoomon and find away to destroy her. In that case, I'll be destroyed too. which you don't want to do, apprently. Or c) stay out of my way."

"You… wouldn't…" muttered Kouji.

"I will, alright. So don't try to stop me." she placed her D-tector on the ground.

"What about your family? Your brother?!" JP looked panicked.

"There is a chance that I'll make it." Responded Yoma sharply.

"Don't act like you don't care!" shouted Zoe. "why... you're always acting so strong and independent! don't... tell me... you don't give a damn! I know you do! Yoma, please..."

The red-headed girl looked down. A tear fell down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly.

"I'm sorry." The girl lifted her foot. And then crushed it into the little brown-green device.

"NO! AUGHHH!!" Elfmon was surrounded by an aura of fractal code. Yoma fell down on her knees.

"Ughhh…" drops of sweat ran down her sides. The girl fell on one side. "It hurts… why… does it… hurt so much…" she was holding her stomach. Kouichi fell on his knees next to her.

By this time the fractal code was flying away from Elfmon and was coming back to Ophanimon, Cherubimon and Seraphimon, who started standing up slowly.

The D-tector turned into pieces of data. And the moment it disappeared, the evil Digimon faded out as well. It was as if she never existed. The girl stopped moving.

"Yo-Yoma?" Kouichi turned her face up. Then shook her a bit.

Takuya, Zoe and Tommy pulled down their hats, and Kouji - his bandanna.

"Yoma..." Muttered Kouichi. "… Wake up! Please!"

The girl groaned and slightly opened her eyes.

"Is she… gone?" she mumbled.

The whole team smiled. Then nodded. Behind them the three Angel Digimon were on their feet. They turned towards the group.

"Good. Augh…" Yoma closed her eyes in pain.

"We have to get you to a hospital." Said Kouichi. She didn't say a thing. The twins wrapped her hands around their shoulders and helped her up.

"Well done." Smiled Ophanimon.

"She's gonna be fine, right?" asked Zoe, as Yoma was trying to walk. Her moves were slow and her eyes were strangely blank. Seraphimon sighed.

"Maybe."

"But… you can do something about it, right?" Kouji turned eyes full of hope towards the Angel Digimon. She only looked at Yoma. Then, very slowly, shook her head.

"The bond between a spirit and a human isn't something I can control. and the bond between those two... I also can not give back what's been destroyed for good. Elfmon had already taken too much. I can heal Yoma for a short period of time, but…" she stopped talking.

"However, there is a chance that she'll make it. It's not big, but it exists." Cherubimon continued

Kouichi glanced at Yoma.

"Yea… thanks." she smiled slightly.

"What for?! You did all the dirty work!" shouted Takuya, his face brightened by a smile.

"For… trying to stop me. It means a lot to me." she responded. "It's… so… empty…" she muttered.

"Let's get going now." Said Kouji.

"Again, thank you." Said Cherubimon as the kids approached Worm.

"Sure. You can call us anytime you need help!" Takuya smiled.

'_The end… it's near.'_

'_No… leave me alone…'_

'_You'll never make it…'_

'_NO!!"_

**To be continued...**


	13. Chapter 13

13. White Rose

_(_Broken Memories part 2)

Original title: The Mirrors inside me

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

'I hate hospitals. They're so… creepy. Dammit, Peter! You're not here for entertainment! Your sister's condition is getting worse, and you think how you dislike hospitals! I have to be grateful there are such things!'

He glanced beside him. Yoma was lying on the bed, with oxygen mask on her face. Her brother sighed and turned in his mind the conversation with Takuya and the others.

FLASHBACK

"Say that again? She fainted? Just like that?"

"Yeah. She said she's feeling dizzy. The next moment she passed out." Said Takuya, trying to sound as convincing as possible. Peter raised his eyebrow.

"Are you sure nothing else happened?"

"No, no. I would've told ya, right, buddy?" Takuya said and a big fake smile appeared on his face. The others nodded.

"Hmmm… okay, I'll trust you." He still stared at them with suspicion "Now if you'll excuse me..." Peter turned around and entered the hospital. He thought he saw the kids sighing with relief.

END FLASHBACK

Seeing his parents, the boy quickly went out of the hospital room.

"Mom, dad!" the boy approached.

"Oh, Peter! Are you alright?" his mother hugged him.

"Mom, I'm fine!"

"Where's the doctor? What happened?" asked the father.

"I don't know." Peter shrugged. "One of the nurses said he'll be here any…"

"Mr. and Mrs. Gami?" asked a man behind them. They turned around.

"Yes?"

"I'm Nakashima Naoki. Are you Miss Gami's parents?" he looked up from the diagram in his hand.

"Yes."

"Look… I don't know how to tell you this. It appears that your daughter is… well, she's perfectly fine. We just can't figure any reason for her to be this way. Has she ever gone through an accident?"

"A car accident, 10 years ago." Said Anabell.

"I see… did she have any injuries in the head?"

"No, not as far as we know."

"Hmmm…" now the doctor looked a bit confused. "We'll run some more tests then and inform you about what we found out."

"Thank you, Doctor." Said Peter.

"You welcome." Naoki tapped his shoulder and entered another room.

Mrs. Gami sighed.

"Don't worry, mom. She'll be fine. I'm sure of it."

Peter turned back to look inside, where Yoma was lying.

'what's wrong, sis?'

_………………………………………………………………………………………………….._

_Where am I? who… am I?_

She opened her eyes. The girl was standing in a big, dark room. She was staring at someone up front. The person was wearing a grey T-shirt over a black blouse, as well as blue jeans. Her hair was orange and her eyes were full of fear. Her red eyes.

_Who are…? Wait a second… that's me! My… reflection…_

She reached out her hand and touched the cold, glassy surface. Then looked around and noticed a few more mirrors around her. Everything the empty space had was mirrors. The girl shivered, seeing so many reflections of herself. The floor was reflecting as well. She looked up.

_No ceiling. _

Suddenly, the girl heard voices. They were coming from all the mirrors. Whispering, demanding voices. They were all saying the same. Her eyes widened.

_No… leave me alone!_

Her soundless scream echoed through the endless corridors. The voices didn't stop. They even became louder. All around her, many ghosts were grinning, talking about the future… her future…

_Go away! Stop it! _

The girl covered her ears. Doesn't matter how hard she tried, no sound came out of her mouth. She started running. And she kept running, and running… evil spirits were surrounding her, flying along with her, whispering the same words into her ears. She couldn't stop them. She couldn't get away. The ghosts were all around. And the mirrors were showing the same reflection, the same running girl, the same tears, which were falling from her eyes.

_'There is no __escape, child… the end is near… you will never see your precious friends again…'_

The girl tried to keep the memories from leaving her head. She was so desperate to remember… a blurred picture of a smiling boy filler her head. She was trying to remember his name…

_No... _

_'The end… it's near…'_

_NO!!_

………………………………………………………………………………………………

'_Beep! Beep! Beep!'_

The demanding noise filled whole corridor. Peter looked up. A couple of nurses, panicked, ran over to the room. Another one called a doctor.

The boy leaned against the wall and his eyes filled up with fear.

"will you leave please?" said the entering doctor.

"yes, of course..." Peter quickly went out the door and shut it. He stared at the doctor's actions from the window. It was like watching a movie with the muted sound. the doctor was trying to stabilize the girl with the help of electric shock, another two nurses were waiting for his orders.

"come on, girl, stay with me..." Peter could read the doctor's lips. His knees started tumbling. He looked over his shoulder at his parents. They, too, were looking inside from the window. Their expression were terrified.

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep... _

the boy didn't even have to hear the sound in order to understand what just happened. he suddenly felt dizzy, made a few steps backward and sat down. Peter's eyes were wide and full with desperation. then, for a second, her thought he heard a voice in his head...

Kouichi looked up from his history notebook.

_This feeling…_

Kouji put a shaking hand on his forhead.

…_this feeling of emptiness…_

Takuya stopped running after the soccer ball.

_...__And loneliness…_

Zoe placed a hand over her mouth and broke down on her knees.

_...__It rushed though…_

Tommy didn't listen to his brother's talking anymore.

_...__and crushed every thought…_

JP looked up at the gray sky. they all understood what this meant.

_...__every other feeling…_

Peter closed his eyes.

_...__Then it all stopped_

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

A cold wind blew through the trees, through the graveyard. The group of six kids, even though they were all wearing warm clothes - every single one of them shivered.

White roses. They were everywhere, on every stone and under every tree. And while looking at them, a girl with a long blonde hair thought that this was the worst day of her life. Zoe blinked, but her tears didn't go away. Next to her a guy with goggles, Takuya, looked at her sadly. A short boy with a huge hat was thinking how creepy this place is. He saw JP's face, who was staring somewhere far away, apparently not aware of what was going on around him. Tommy remembered why they were in the graveyard in the first place and looked at his shoes. Kouji, a boy with a blue bandanna, looked at the gravestone, on which was written 'Yoma Gami' and below dates of birth and death. 'Thirteen years only' thought Kouichi, Kouji's twin-brother. He put a rose on the ground in front of the grave.  
"I can't take this anymore!" The only girl that was left in the group fell on her knees. Her face was in her hands.

"Zoe…" Takuya put his arm on her shoulder, and then looked angrily at the name on the gravestone. 'I told you not to!! See what you did?!' he thought, trying not let tears fill up his eyes too. Then looked at the girl again. No one spoke. The only sound was of Zoe's crying.

The funeral was half-an-hour ago. All kinds of people came, most were from the Gami family, but there are also some friends of Mr. and Mrs. Gami. The kids were the only ones under 20, except Peter. For the group the hardest part probably was seeing Yoma's parents and brother and talking to them.

"Thank you very much for coming." said Yoma's father. The mother only nodded.

"Of course we came." Kouji took her hand. "I know how you feel, Mrs. Gami."

"We all do. And… we're very sorry we couldn't do anything." said Takuya.

"There was nothing you could do. It was apparently an accident." said Anabell quietly.

"Is there something we can do now?" asked Zoe.

"Anything at all" nodded JP. Peter shook his head.

"No, that's ok." Yoma's father smiled sadly "our son will drive us home now. Have a good day. "

"Let's go." said Peter quietly.

As they went away, Takuya sighed:

"Poor Mr. and Mrs. Gami. And Pete too."

"Yeah, and they were just about to move to Australia. Yoma told me before this all started." whispered Zoe.

"Maybe they will. You know… to start over." suggested JP. "Sorry." He added, after seeing the girl's expression.

"Hey, bro, you ok?" Kouji turned to his twin.

Kouichi nodded, without looking at him. He was staring somewhere far away.

All those memories flew through his head, now, while he was staring at the Zoe.

"Calm down" said Takuya.

"H-how? D-don't you r-realize? We'll n-never see her ag-gain…" the girl was talking through tears. Takuya hugged her.

"Come on" he whispered to the others. Then helped her stand up, and while she was still with face in her hands, they all moved towards the exit. Only Kouji and his brother didn't move. The long haired boy got closer to Kouichi.

"Are you… going to be fine? " He asked. Kouichi didn't answer. "Do you hear me?" No answer. "KK!"

By hearing that, Kouichi woke up from his thoughts. However, his only reaction was to turn away his head and look at his shoes.

"I know how you feel." Kouji looked at the white rose. "I'll miss her too."

"She didn't deserve that." whispered Kouichi.

"Hm?"

It was the first time he said something ever since Peter called to tell them what happened.

"You know… I really hoped all of this will end without…" he stopped. Then finished

"I had hoped that it'll end well." Kouichi's voice was very quiet.

"In a way, it did. Except, well… you know. The obvious."

"I… I really…"

"You really loved her." finished Kouji. It was the other boy's turn to be surprised. He turned around.

"And I can assure you that she felt the same." Kouji turned to his brother. Kouichi smiled sadly.

"Let's go." He said.

"Yeah."

As they walked away a cold wind blew through the trees. Then everything went quiet again.

The boy turned around for the last time. There was only one thing in his mind… this feeling of emptiness… why, that time… it was almost like something was calling him… someone… the boy sighed and kept walking.

TO BE CONTINUED

--

I know you wonder what there IS to continue. well, some people have been telling me that some things are left unrevealed, so I wrote another chapter. it explains pretty much everything, nad then there's an epilogue.


	14. Chapter 14

14

14. Questions answered 

Things can never be that simple…

It was a few weeks after the funeral, and the group was called to the digital world once more. And this time - when they got off the Trailmon near the room where the digital world's history was kept - they found the most pleasant surprise.

"Bokomon! Neemon!" Zoe rushed forward and hugged Neemon.

"I am so glad to see you once again, my friends!" Bokomon shook Tommy's hand.

After Zoe let go of the yellow digimon, he started jumping around with joy. They all laughed and even Kouichi giggled.

"It's been **ages**!" Said Takuya, smiling widely.

"Indeed! My, you've grown so much! Also, we heard about what happened not a long time ago. You really defeated on of the greatest enemies this world has ever faced!"

They team's faces suddenly darkened.

"It wasn't really us." Muttered Kouji. Bokomon's smile disappeared.

"And also we've heard of the high price you had to pay for this to happen."

"And you say I'm not tactical!" said Neemon after a short silence.

"Oh, shut up!" Bokomon pulled his friend's pants then let them go mid-air.

"OUCH!" shouted Neemon and jumped. The team laughed again.

"I had forgotten what's it like to have you around!" said JP finally.

"Say, why didn't you join us this time?" asked Tommy.

"We wanted to. But I was given a task from Lady Ophanimon. An **important** task." "What task?"

Bokomon tried to make himself look taller. He was apparently proud.

"To find out more about Lady Elfmon."

That answer made everyone's faces sharpen. Kouichi's fists closed.

"**Lady **Elfmon?" he muttered.

"What do you… mean?" asked Kouji, shooting a warning glance at his brother.

"It appears that there was more to her then meets the eye." Continued Bokomon.

"but in oreder to explain all this... we have to go backwards, to when the digital world was created."

A light surrounded them, and when it dissppeard, the team, with Bokomon and Neemon, were standing on a fliying round platform, in the room where all the hitory was kept.

Th eplatfor started moving down, through fractal code that circled around. Then it stopped.

Tommy gasped. In front of them, an image was formed.

"when our world was created, along with all the data came other creatures. We do not know where they came form, or why. One day they just appered. That bunch called themselves Mirits." Bokomon said slowly.

The image before them was showing a group of beautiful woman-like creatures. Their entire bodies were green, and they had scar-like formings in a darker shade of green all over their bodies. These creatures - Mirits - seemed like they were coming out of the plants.

Suddenly, JP realized something.

" they don't... have eyes!" he said, his with an amazed stare.

"mm, yes." The white digimon coughed and continued as the platform moved down: "the Mirits were peaceful and almost never attacked any digimon. There were just a few exceptions, but no one got hurt. However, soon it was discovered that the Mirits have a certain... ability. The power to earese memories. Which power, soon, went out of control. Any digimon that would get near would have all his memories wiped out."

Now the image before the group was of all kinds of digimon, mosty the ones that lived in forests, walking around with a blank expession. Some of them were running in horror. The Mirits seemed like they were trying to get as far as possible from any other creatures around them.

"this looks terrible" muttered Zoe.

Takuya nodded, his eye fixed on the one of the green woman-like things. It was the only one that didn't back off.

"it is!" squeked Neemon.

"indeed." Confirmed Bokomon. "since the Mirits didn't want to cause any harm anymore, they asked of the three Celestial digimon to close them in a seperate space, as far as possible from all other species. And so the Hall of Mirrors was created."

Now, after the platform moved even further down, an image of a room appeared. No, it looked more like a maze - and all the walls were made by mirrors. It was dark, and still, some kind of strange green-white light was coming out of the reflecting surface. And then the group saw them - spirits. They were green and looked exactly like the Mirits but were more… thin. Like ghosts. Kouichi could actually see though them.

"Mirits can also travel through mirrors, so this was the perfect decision." Bokomon kept going with the story. "Most of them were pleased with the arrangement. Those creatures do not need food or water to survive. All they need is a reflection to feed from. They could watch the digital world without harming it. But there was a small group… which didn't like all this. A small group of Mirits who wanted to be free. They blamed the Celestial digimon for everything that has happened so far. And then they discovered your world - the real world. And decided to try and go there. It was their chance for freedom. But they would all disappear on the way there - through the mirrors. But one of them… one of them succeeded."

Now it was showing a crowded street. There were more people than there were supposed to and the cars weren't moving. There was an ambulance, and not far behind it were two cars that seemed like they had crashed in all force. Two more ambulances came, and there could even be heard a little bit of noise. Kouji couldn't recognize the woman that got on one of the white cars with bright orange strips, but recognized the boy that was carried in another one of the ambulances. It was Peter Gami. He was a lot younger but it was him.

Seemed like the others finally realized what was that. Tommy gasped and Zoe covered her mouth. JP's eyes were even wider than before. Kouichi's berating became shallow, and Takuya greeted his teeth and tried not to look away. The image zoomed into a small pond not far form the nearest ambulance. Out of it came a thin as the air, small green spirit. It merely had a shape, but it was there. It quickly went into one of the ambulances and disappeared.

The platform where the kids were standing kept moving down.

"I think you can guess what happened. The spirit went inside a 3-year-old girl and became one with her. It is the spirit who helped her get back on her feet when she was older and it was that same spirit that gave her the guts to be independent and rough. It is the spirit who called her into the digital world."

"But… that… thing… it doesn't make sense. If it's Elfmon, then how…" started Zoe after a quiet silence.

"I forgot to mention that what emerged into Yoma was just a part of the digimon you now call Elfmon." cut her Bokomon. "The other part of her somehow entered the digital world and started gaining power and data. She soon became one of the most powerful digimon existing and swore that one day she'll free the Mirits and let them live in the real world. That was her goal."

"That explains some things about her… but you said the Mirits were peaceful. Then why did Elfmon want to…" started Kouji.

"Not at the beginning. She helped most of the forests to grow bigger and tried helping the digimon. But she wasn't welcomed. Elfmon was feared by all types and seizes of digimon. It soon became clear that nobody wanted her in this world. Elfmon became furious. This is when she changed… she started believing that the only way to be accepted was by force. She was the one who convinced Lucemon to try and take over this world."

"Oh!" that was the only thing that any of the kids could say. Neemon had fallen asleep and his head was resting on his tiny shoulder.

"Yoma grew without knowing any of this. Yes, she sometimes felt a strange presence inside of her, but always convinced herself it was nothing. And how could she know anything at all? The only different thing about her appearance was her eye color. Instead of green, her eyes were red.

"But even if she knew there was nothing she could do about it - the two were connected and if one of them died, the other one would meet the same fate. Now, to continue with our story… one day, she heard a clear voice in her head, which was calling her here. But even if she knew there was nothing she could do about it - the two were connected and if one of them died, the other one would meet the same fate. Now, to continue with our story…"

A new image appeared. This time it was of the red-headed girl. She was just getting off a Trailmon and looking around. Then her expression changed and she looked as if she just remembered something.

"I need to go to the Dark Area" she told Worm, who looking terrified by the very idea. The image changed and it now was showing Yoma in front of Cherubimon.

"Elfmon had to know how much power Lucemon gained, and so she sent her - so called - human partner to find out. After a while, however, your friend started getting off the tracks of the plan. She tried to convince Kouichi, back then as Duskmon, to come back to his true self." Continued Bokomon.

"I don't remember any of that." Greeted Kouichi behind teeth.

"Have you forgotten what I told you just a few minutes ago? About the Mirits' ability to erase memories?"

Silence answered his words. The platform stopped moving.

"From then on you know everything." Finally finished the while digimon. "Wake up!!" he shouted and poked Neemon.

"Aah!" the yellow digimon woke up with a gasp.

"So that's all, huh? It explains a lot now…" said Zoe and turned to Takuya with knitted brows.

"Yeah…"

"So now… should we blame Elfmon for all this? Maybe… maybe it wasn't entirely her fault. Maybe… maybe she's not the only one to blame…" started Tommy, but stopped when he saw Kouichi's expression.

"I won't forgive her. I don't care if she's gone. I don't care what made her do all this. I can never forgive her." Said the short-haired blue-eyed boy. Kouji just sighed.

"We'd better get going." Said JP after a short silence.

"Yeah…"

"Well, call us if there's any trouble, alright?" Takuya smiled at the two digimon.

"Of cou-…" a starnge sound cut Bokomon's words. it was cutting, splitting... almost unbeareble. they all covered their ears, but it was as if the noise was inside their thoughts. like a soundless scream. There was a crack formed in the mirror. A gap. And the Mirits were celebrating.

TO BE CONTINUED


	15. Chapter 15

15

15. The gate has opened 

A shattered mirror 

_"Well, call us if there's any trouble, alright?" Takuya smiled at the two digimon._

_"Of cou-…" __a strange sound cut __Bokomon'__s words. it was cutting, splitting... almost unbearble. they all covered their ears, but it was as if that noise was inside__their thoughts. like a soundless__ scream. __There was a crack formed in the mirror. A gap. And the Mirits were celebrating._

--

"What **is **that sound?!" shouted Kouji, falling on his knees.

"How should I know?!" shouted back Takuya.

"Aah!!" Zoe was shaking. The sound seemed to slice deeper and deeper into her. And it wasn't just that. All the images that were appearing in her mind… a mix of colors…

JP pulled out his D-tector, still covering one of his ears.

"No!" shouted Bokomon, trying to shout over the noise that was now making some of the walls to crack. "These are the Mirits! If you turn into digimon so suddenly, your memories will be permanently erased!"

Tommy opened his mouth to say something, but the sudden end of the scream stopped him. Kouichi helped up his brother, while Zoe was catching her breath. Even Takuya seemed to tremble a little.

"Now you've officially witnessed what a big part of this world has feared." Bokomon shook his head, his eyes wide and worried.

"Did you say those were the Mirits?" asked Kouichi.

"No doubt!" shouted Neemon with a horrified voice.

"They seemed angry." Zoe shivered and got closer to Takuya.

"As a matter of fact, it's hard to tell, but I think they were actually happy. This can't be good. Let's go outside." Bokomon kept murmuring things to himself, as the platform was moving towards the exit.

"Wow!"

The team's jaws dropped. Everything around them was blooming and growing. The trees had gone higher, and the grass was almost as tall as Tommy himself. There were more flowers than in a botanic garden, and they were in all colors possible.

"Yeah… the Mirits alright…" Bokomon crossed his arms.

"I'm scared!" squeaked Neemon.

"But… It's so wonderful!" smiled Zoe and stretched. "The air is fresh. Everything is so pretty!"

_'__It may seem this way, but the situation is far worse than you can imagine.' _

A voice made everyone look straight forward. There she was, in her entire beauty, Ophanimon. She seemed somehow tired.

"How could they have done that?" asked Kouichi.

"Yeah, I thought they were in this… hall of mirrors or something!" Kouji said.

_'__They were. But a gap formed… one of the mirrors was broken.' _

--

**ONE WEEK EARLIER**

"I don't want to stay here forever, I… I want to get out!" shouted a girl with short orange hair.

One of her eyes was green and the other - red. Her scream seemed to get lost into darkness. There wasn't even an echo. Only spirits. And reflections.

Yoma fell down on her knees, her tears falling like rain.

"I don't… want to spend eternity here… please…" she whispered.

_'__Accept it. And we could do great things to this place.'_

A voice made her look up. It was a tall woman-like digimon, with green skin, long brown dress and light green marks on her face and body.

"You!" Yoma stood up quickly, wiping her tears. "It's all your fault!! All yours!!" the girl made a step forward.

_'You decided to help me out of your own free will.'_

"You got yourself inside me! You interrupted my life!! You ruined it!! You're the reason why sometimes I can't even remember my own name!!"

_'I'm also the reason why you're not weak and helpless.' _

Elfmon's last words made Yoma freeze.

Weak.

Helpless.

She hated those words.

FLASHBACK

"It's pretty, isn't it?"

"Yeah." A girl with short orange hair took a deep breath.

She and her friend were standing on the beach, listening to the splashing waves and staring at the setting sun. It was around 8 o'clock pm.

"Hey, Yoma…" started the blonde girl.

"Hm?" the 10-year-old on the wheelchair looked up.

"I… there's something I gotta tell you."

"What is it?"

"At the end of summer… I'm… my family… we're moving away." Amy tried not to look at Yoma.

"That's no problem, we'll still meet at school… and there are always trains."

"No, I mean… we're moving out of the country."

"Where?" Yoma knit her brows.

"America." Amy looked to her left. She just couldn't keep her eyes at her friend.

"Well… there are about 2 weeks till then, right?" smiled Yoma and looked back at the sun.

"It's not just that… Yoma… I don't… that walk we did today… it's… I don't want to be… I don't want to be seen with you anymore." Amy narrowed her eyes a little.

"What… why?" Yoma's eyes widened, full of fear.

"It's… you don't know what they are all saying… about you and your condition and… and if I keep hanging with you, they'll outcast me as well, I don't…"

"So you don't want to be my friend just because I can't walk?" hissed the red-head and her grip around the handles of the chair tightened.

Amy froze. Her fried had never talked that way.

"It's not… just that. It's… everything else… your eyes. They're always so cold and so… so weird." Amy closed her fists, shaking a little.

"I can buy contacts! I'll buy contacts and tell everyone it's my natural color! I'd do that!" Yoma shouted the sweetness and smile coming back to her face.

"You… would?" for a second Amy hesitated.

"Yeah, if that's what you want."

The blonde girl sighed.

"Also… everyone is saying… all those weird stuff about you… that sometimes to turn into something else. It's like you're a different person. And you do strange stuff, making the plants grow or erasing memories and… and you're so weak sometimes. Almost like you're helpless. With no will of your own. It's like you do exactly what you're told." Amy was spitting the words like they were something nasty that's been in her mouth for a while.

"And the dreams you're having." Amy kept going. "It's like you actually believe they're true."

"You can call me crazy about my dreams if you want… you can hate me for my eyes… but why, after everything I've done… I... I'm not weak!!"

Amy turned around sharply and gasped. Yoma was holding on to the chair, but she was on her feet. Her eyes were wide and sparkling. Some strange green glow started forming around her and her hair got messy. Then… it seemed like a ghost of a woman, elf-like woman, appeared behind Yoma.

Amy made a step back.

"What… what the hell… are you?!" she shouted.

"Something you should fear!" Yoma's voice became louder, more grown-up. It's like someone was talking instead of her. Plants started growing from the sand and wrapped around her feet. It was indeed terrifying.

"Get away!" Amy shouted. "Stop that!!"

Yoma's stare softened. She shook her head and then fell on the ground, unconscious.

END FLASHBACK

Yoma looked at her feet. Just like all the others, this memory faded away as well.

She looked at one of the mirrors. At her own reflection. There she was, the same as 3 years ago - not being able to stand up for herself. Yoma closed her right fist. The next second she crushed the mirror. Elfmon grinned, although there was a slight expression of pain on her face.

This made the Mirits all around the Hall freeze. Then they let a terrifying scream and headed towards the broken mirror.

Yoma looked at her fingers.

Small drips of blood were falling from them.

She reached out to the broken glass next to her. And her fingers went right through it. Yoma gasped. The next second she smiled.

"A… way… out..." The girl whispered. Then she looked around at the gathering spirits. They were apparently waiting for some kind of order.

"A way out!" Yoma shouted, raising her fist. "Go! Go and take on all the worlds! Break free!"

Seems like the Mirits hesitated for a moment. And then, with a cry of joy that made a few more mirrors crack, they flew towards the portal.

--

"The hell is going on here?" asked a tall girl with long red hair tied on a ponytail and burning orange eyes. The plants around her had suddenly started to grow unusually fast.

"Hey Kohara, you playing around with your abilities again?!" she shouted, looking to her left where, not far, a figure of a boy could be seen.

"Hm…?" the boy with short white hair on red highlights opened his eyes. As he was lying on the ground, he could see the grass becoming taller and taller. The boy smiled sweetly, his green-blue eyes sparkling.

" 't's not my doing, Kurosawa." he responded calmly to the girl as he sat. "some energy is causing this… the Mirits I think."

"So she's back…?" Muttered the girl.

--

**PRESENT TIME**

"How could they have done that?" asked Kouichi.

"Yeah, I thought they were in this… hall of mirrors or something!" Kouji said.

_'They were. But a gap formed… one of the mirrors was broken.' _

"Broken?" asked JP and scratched his cheek. "How can that be?"

_'__Me, Cherubimon and Seraphimon are suspecting the Mirits wouldn't do that on their own. It was - probably - Elfmon.' _responded the angelic digimon.

"Elfmon… got… destroyed..." started Tommy slowly."…no?"

_'__She is in the hall of mirrors. Some… parts of her got there, somehow. Remember, she is not entirely a digimon. And…' _Ophanimon hesitated.

"Yes?" both Takuya and Kouji encouraged.

_'I want you to… talk Elfmon out of this.'_

"Out of what?" Zoe asked even more confused.

_'__Apparently the Mirits wouldn't enter another world without being told. She sent them here.'_ Ophanimon turned her head towards Kouichi. It seems like she was expecting him to say something. The boy took a deep breath.

"I do not wish to talk to Elfmon, nor to go to this place." He said, as calmly as possible.

The angelic digimon didn't try to convince him otherwise. Instead, she addressed the rest of the team:

"Do you think you can do it?"

"We could try…" muttered Tommy and looked up at JP.

"I'm not sure we'll convince her though." Zoe added.

Ophanimon nodded and seemed a little relived.

_'__Yes and there's another thing…'_ she seemed like she had remembered something. _'Yoma… could be there too. Her spirit may be there.'_

Tommy, JP and Takuya let out a small gasp. Zoe was watching closely the twins' reaction which was almost immediate.

"Yoma will be there?" Kouichi took a deep breath. His brother's hands were shaking a little.

_'Possible.'_

The group exchanged looks. And with no words, they made the same decision.

"How do we get there?" asked Takuya and looked back to Ophanimon.


	16. Chapter 16

16

16. Anotherworld

"where are we?!"

"Mmff…" groaned JP as he slowly opened his eyes. His head was spinning and everything was a blur. After a few seconds the image before him became clearer.

He was in a big room with light-colored walls that seemed to be in all shades of the rainbow.

The boy was lying on a bed with blue-purplish blankets. To his right, with some distance between the two, was another bed. Kouichi, sitting on it, was just chewing an apple.

"Oh, JP. Good to see you woke up." The boy smiled slightly.

"What happened?" the boy with short brown hair sat.

"Well," Kouichi swallowed and put down the rest of the apple on a table next to his bed. "I think that after we jumped to that Crystal Lake we ended up in the hall of mirrors. I remember I hit my head. And I woke up here. This girl came, think her name was Ayumi, gave me something to eat and told me she'll explain everything when you wake up. That's just about it." Kouichi shrugged and stood from the bed. "Shall we go find her then?"

JP nodded, still a little confused. He, too, remembered hitting his head into something cold.

_'Kouichi just seems so calm about all this__… weird.' _JP knit his brows.

"Hey Kouichi," he started as they entered the long white corridor. "Doesn't it _bother_ you we don't even know where we are?"

"Don't care much." Shrugged the boy up front.

JP only sighed.

The two had entered a big dinning room, also colored with light shades of the rainbow colors. There they found a girl with long red hair sitting on one of chairs, reading a book. Her hair was tied on a low ponytail and she was wearing an orange-red long silk shirt over a short, also orange, skirt. Her skin was covered with flame-shaped tattoos.

She looked up. Her eyes were in the deep shade of orange and had a little brown at the ends.

Her entire being pretty much screamed 'fire'.

"Ah, you two are up!" she smiled and put down her book.

"Um… hi." Muttered JP, almost stunned by her beauty. He could feel the energy coming out of her.

"I'm Ayumi Kurosawa, no nicknames please." The girl stood up and bowed slightly.

"Er, Junpei Shibayama." He also slightly bowed. "b-but call me JP!" The boy added quickly, blushing in a deep shade of pink. Kouichi rolled his eyes.

"Nice to meet you." Ayumi smiled. "You hungry, JP?"

"n-no, not really." The boy rubbed the back of his head.

"So. Are you going to tell us where are we?" asked Kouichi a little impatiently.

"Ah, yes. Come with me outside," the girl headed towards the front door and made them a sign to follow. "Can't tell you anything without his permission…" she added.

There was fresh green grass and many many flowers covering kilometers around the house. Also a forest and a village could be noticed in the close distance.

"Kohara!" shouted Ayumi into the open.

After a few moments a boy rose from the grass. He approached with a quick step.

The boy had short, spiky white hair with some parts red. He had a deep red scratch-like marking on each side of his face, which made quite a contrast with his sea-green eyes.

He was wearing a T-shirt, colors blue with a red and grey circle drawn on it, light green shorts and blue-red sneakers. Just like Ayumi, he had tattoos all over his body, although they were swirl and not flame-shaped. Also, he had a scarf on blue and green straps.

"Hello, my name is Yasuo Kohara. Just Yasuo is fine."

He didn't smile as he introduced himself to the newcomers. In fact, his eyes were cold as ice.

"Um… hi." Muttered JP. Kouichi only nodded.

"So you are coming from the digital world?" asked Yasuo as a flash of hatred passed through his stare.

"Uh… y-yeah." JP shivered. This guy scared him.

"You don't have to be like that, Kohara." laughed Ayumi. "Yasuo," she turned to Kouichi "is one of the gate keepers. He doesn't trust new people."

"Gate keepers?" asked the black-haired boy and raised his eyebrow.

"They don't know much do they." Muttered Yasuo under his breath. "I wouldn't expect much more from mere humans though. Cowards and un-honorable creatu-…" his talking got cut by Kouichi's sudden reaction. The boy grabbed the front of his shirt and raised his fist.

"Kouichi!"

"Yasuo!"

Both Ayumi and JP jumped to tear the two boys apart.

"What do **you **know about humans?" hissed the Warrior of Darkness.

"Quite enough!!" snapped back Kohara as Ayumi held him by the shirt.

"We just **met** the guy, Kouichi! Let's at least find out where are we, okay?!" JP was holding Kouichi's shoulders, trying to hold him back.

The black-haired boy shook JP's hands off his shoulders.

"Fine." He mumbled.

--

"I still don't understand how we got back to the real world." Takuya looked around.

"Something feels weird." Zoe stared at a train that passed on the other side of the street.

The two had woken up in a small phone cabin in the middle of the street. After a lot of banging and many embarrassed looks they had managed to get out.

It indeed looked just like the real world. Except for some details Zoe and Takuya hadn't noticed yet - the names of the streets, the position of it all, the colors… it was all a little bit, almost unnoticeably, different.

Zoe had sensed something was when she saw someone holding weird-looking cash. And the colors of the express train.

"What do you mean 'weird'?" asked Takuya and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Well… don't you feel it?" Zoe took a deep breath. She had lost her hat somewhere and the wind messed up her hair.

"Now that you mention it, it does feel different. Like I know this place and at the same time I feel like a lost tourist who doesn't know the local language."

"I wouldn't say it quite like that but yes, you do have a point." Zoe laughed and swept the hair out of her face.

They just stared at each other for a few moments. Takuya blushed slightly and laughed as well.

"Let's find out how is this place called. I just hope we're back home and just a little dizzy." Takuya said and looked down the sea of people.

"Well, that can be the case too…" Zoe tried to recall the events from the last half-an-hour.

FLASHBACK

"So you say all we have to do is jump in the freezing water and we'll be there?" Takuya stared at the lake wide-eyed.

Ophanimon nodded.

"Looks deep." Muttered Tommy.

The water was clear and sparkly. It was strange that no fish were swimming in it.

The lake was located near Ophanimon's castle, under a group of trees. It was perfectly hidden and could hardly be found without any guidance.

_'__Get inside; you should be there in half a second.'_ Ophanimon smiled encouragingly.

"Are you sure it's safe? What if our butts freeze on the way?" JP had just pulled out his finger from the water. It was covered with a small amount of ice. Tommy crouched next to him with a look of amazement.

"Let's just stop sitting around and go." Kouichi looked at his brother with a little annoyance. Kouji shook his head. He'd never guess he and his twin-brother would switch roles.

"He's right, let's get moving!" Takuya got prepared to jump.

Zoe closed her eyes and took a deep breath, just like her teammates.

END FLASHBACK

…Next thing that happened is that Zoe heard some strange sound, like bumping and breaking glass. Someone shouted 'what's going on?!' then she woke up in the telephone cabin with Takuya, both of them stuffed in like two magazines in an envelope.

She sighed as the two of them hurried through the mass of people.

Everyone looked pretty normal - they were wearing suits, skirts, jackets… some of them were smoking, some seemed hurried, there was a great deal of teenagers wandering around. In other words - nothing out of the ordinary.

Suddenly, Takuya stopped. Zoe, who was staring at a clothing shop, bumped right into him.

"What is it?" the girl asked.

"What the…" muttered Takuya and got closer to a boy, around 11 years old with black-bluish hair and purple-green eyes, who was selling newspapers near the entrance of a shop.

"Excuse me, buddy, can I see the headline?" asked Takuya when the boy looked at him questioningly.

"5 Rexafils and 30 Goldens." Demanded the boy and pulled the newspapers closer to him.

"What?" Takuya raised an eyebrow.

"5 rexafils and 30 goldens." Repeated the boy, shooting suspicious looks at the newcomer.

"Zoe," muttered Takuya as the girl stepped next to him. "this boy here wants something from me."

"You want a newspaper; I want you to pay me." the 10-year old narrowed his eyes a little.

"But I'm broke!" the boy with the goggles over his head almost shouted. "And I don't have those… reaxifillers or whatever!"

"What **are** you doing?!" hissed Zoe.

"I think the name of the city is written above the headline" Muttered the boy back.

Zoe finally understood what her friend was trying to accomplish. She smiled sweetly at the youth.

"What's the name of this newspaper, little one?"

"Tokihota news, of course."

"…This city is called Tokihota?" asked Zoe carefully.

"Did you fall from the sky?" the boy responded, making a few steps back.

Zoe and Takuya exchanged scared looks.

Apparently, wherever they were, it wasn't the place they were supposed to be.

--

"So you're saying we're in this world called _Lalent_?!" JP's eyes were now as round as plates. His jaw dropped.

"I think I was clear enough." Yasuo said, not even looking at the brown-haired boy.

The four were sitting under a tree in the beginning of the forest.

"We came through the Hall Of Mirrors, that's what you said?" Kouichi turned to Ayumi.

"It's always been a passageway." Smiled the girl.

"Hmm… kind of logical… Is there a way to go back?" asked Kouichi, moving his hand up and down before JP's eyes - he seemed too stunned to talk.

"Of course there is. But you'll have to wait for another month or two." Yasuo said calmly.

"Two months?!" Kouichi stopped his efforts to turn JP back to reality.

"That's when the gate will open again. Of course, the Mirits had gone crazy, so maybe you'll get lucky and wait one month only." Yasuo said calmly.

"Wait just one moment. You know about the Mirits?" asked Kouichi.

"Of course. They are one of the main forces of Lalent. Many Earth Mirits disappeared some time ago though…" Ayumi's expression became thoughtful.

"…different kinds… of Mirits…?" JP seemed to slowly get a grip of himself.

"Well, this **is** the world where elements rule… Fire Mirits, Air Mirits, Earth, Darkness, Light and Water Mirits - they each represent an element." Explained Yasuo and sat, his eyes still cold and somewhat furious.

Before anyone could say anything else, a strange sound came from Kouichi's pocket.

The boy knit his brows and pulled out his D-tector. He pushed a button on the left.

_'Kouichi? You there?'_Takuya's voice was panicked.

"Yes, where are you?"

JP got closer to his friend. Yasuo and Ayumi only exchanged looks.

_'Zoe__, where are we again?!'_ Takuya was almost terrified. Kouichi heard Zoe sigh in the background and then she said 'Tokihota.'

_'The city of Tokihota!' _

"Where?!" JP thought he hadn't heard right.

_'How the hell should I know?! This crazy place is called Tokihota and-…' '__Give me that.'_ Zoe cut Takuya's talking. Then said to Kouichi and JP:

_'Somehow we ended up in a strange world that looks like the Real World, but it's not. We're in some city__, Tokihota. This boy got suspicious of our questions and was going to call the police so me and Takuya are now hiding in a small dark street. It's just like Tokyo here, but the names of the streets and the position of everything is different. Where are you?'_

Kouichi and JP exchanged looks and the black-haired boy said:

"In the world called Lalent, we're about to figure how to get back. Do you know where Kouji and Tommy are?"

_'__You mean they're not with you?'_ Zoe seemed worried.

_'__This is bad, you guys!' _sounded Takuya's voice. Then he continued in a mutter_: _

_'…If she had only listened to me back then and hadn't shattered the damn thing, we'd be together happy and __**alive**__.' _

JP quickly took Kouichi's D-tector before the boy could react and said:

"try to contact Kouji and Tommy, in the meantime we'll try to figure what exactly is going on here and how can we get back to the Digital World - all of us."

_'__Sounds reasonable. Okay, we'll…-'_

_'__Here they are!'_

_'__Oh no, you don't!' _

_'Takuya! …hey, let go of me!!' _

Series of bangs and shouts were heard and then the connection broke.

"Zoe! Takuya!" shouted JP. "Dammit! I hope they're fine."

Kouichi took back his device and slipped it to his pocket.

"Stay the night here. We'll see if we can help you tomorrow." Ayumi pulled a huge kind of fake smile and stood up.

JP was about to start arguing, but Kouichi shot him a warning glance and shook his head. The brown-haired boy sighed.

Yasuo was still looking at Kouichi with a bit of hatred in his eyes.

--

"For the last time: we were not trying to steal the newspapers!!"

"Calm down, Takuya!" shrieked Zoe rather blushed and got a hold of his jacket, preventing him from jumping on the officer.

"Then why did you attack Jesse, the paperboy?" asked the policeman, narrowing his eyes.

"We didn-…"

"Takuya, shut up before you get us into an even bigger mess." Zoe hissed. Then she turned to the man before her: "we weren't attacking him or trying to steal the paper. We were just…" she looked around nervously.

"They were asking for directions!" the boy, Jesse, had opened the door with a slam while shouting those words.

"I'm sorry, couldn't hold him back…" a man who was trying to catch his breath came in after the 10-year-old.

The officer moved his eyes from Takuya, then to Zoe and then to the paperboy.

"I was… scared. That's why I started shouting. But they were just asking for directions. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding." Jesse let a small nervous laughter.

The officer took a deep breath, getting angrier by the second.

"Let's let them go, eh, Yavin?" Asked the officer who had come in later. "We have all those death cases to investigate."

"Fine." Snapped the sitting man and stood up. "Now go before I change me decision and ask for your generated IDs."

Takuya and Zoe left the room without even hesitating. On the way out the nervously nodded to the officers.

Zoe noticed that Jesse was making them a sign. She grabbed Takuya's wrist and followed the young boy. After they left the police station, there were a few moments of silence.

"thanks for helping us." Finally said Zoe.

"You really saved us back there, buddy!" shouted Takuya. "You convinced them pretty easily."

"My dad is a pretty important person among the police." Shrugged the boy. "By the way," he stopped and turned to face them. "I'm Jetsuo Amaryllis. But everyone calls me Jesse."

"Takuya Kanbara" the boy with the goggles, a little surprised, shook the boy's hand.

"Izumi Orimoto, Zoe is fine." The girl smiled and also shook Jetsuo's hand.

"You're really not from here are you?" asked the boy after they entered a good-looking neighbourhood.

"Um… no, not really." Takuya rubbed the back of his head. He was half-counting on Zoe to get them out of this conversation, and so he shot a begging glance at her.

"Don't worry, I won't call the police again" laughed Jesse. "You're actually not the first ones… we had a few of those before… where are you from, Lalent?"

"Uh, no, we're from the Real World. I mean, that's how we call it, but this here looks real too, so…" Takuya's words faded mid-sentence.

The three had reached a big white house and Jesse unlocked the door towards the front yard.

"Our planet is called Therra… I think it was very similar to 'Earth'" -Jesse pronounced 'Earth' like it was a name from his history book - "but I'm not sure… something about the parallel universes and such… I don't understand these things much. Here we are," Jetsuo added, entering the nice-feeling, kind of dark house. Sunlight was dancing on the white couch, the low wooden table and the rug. It looked like a regular home.

"Stay with me for awhile. Dad won't be back until after 3 days." Jesse smiled at the two. Takuya and Zoe looked around and then shrugged.

"It's nearly sunset. I have to go back to give the papers back to Mr. Tenaka, and I'll back. Make yourself at home; I think there's food in a fridge." With these words, Jesse left, locking the door behind him.

"What a nice boy." Smiled Takuya and almost threw himself on the couch.

"I guess…" Zoe looked a little worried.

_'He just seems… too kind? Or maybe I'm just being paranoid…?_' she thought and knit her brows.


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm so so sorry i haven't updated for a while... i have to submit ch18 too o.o'''**

**enjoy, and please R&R (:**

17. Hall of Mirrors

The attack has started pt1

Tommy opened his eyes to see he was flying full speed ahead towards something that looked like a mirror. The boy closed his eyes and protected his face with his hands, ready for the crash. Just before he hit the glassy surface, Tommy felt someone jumping on him, knocking him to the ground.

He heard a few crashes, someone shouted something. After a few seconds it was all quiet again.

The boy opened his eyes.

He was sitting in an endless corridor; next to him Kouji was catching his breath. There were pieces of glass all around, although the mirrors themselves didn't look damaged at all.

"Are you okay?" asked the boy with the bandanna.

"Yeah…" muttered Tommy."…thanks."

"No problem." Kouji stood up, looking around. He helped Tommy up.

"Is this the hall of mirrors? Where are the others?" asked the younger boy.

"No idea, but look!" Kouji pointed towards a pink hat lying a few meters away. "Zoe was here!"

He approached and took the hat, turning it in his hands. Kouji looked at the mirror it was lying next to.

"It's so cold." Muttered Tommy. Then he heard voices. The boy turned to all sides, but couldn't see anyone.

"H-hello?" Tommy muttered. Kouji was still examining the mirror.

_'Get out… stranger… you do not belong here…' _

"Who is it?!" shouted Tommy, frightened.

"Who're shouting to?" asked Kouji with a raised eyebrow, turning towards him.

"I heard someone…" Tommy looked around, still hearing the voice telling him to leave.

"No one's here. Maybe we should move on." The boy with the bandanna turned to where the corridor was splitting in two. Tommy ran to his friend and they entered the left corridor.

A few minutes they walked in silence. The voices had stopped, but now a strange presence making the air heavy. Even Kouji could sense something was not right. A few times Tommy thought he saw something moving inside the mirrors themselves. With each step he felt colder.

_'__Isn't Kouji bothered by the fact that it's freezing here?!'_ Tommy thought, breathing onto his hands to warm up a little.

His friend suddenly stopped walking. Kouji was staring into one of the mirrors, his eyes wide. Zoe's hat slipped through his fingers and fell silently on the ground.

"What is it?" Tommy went around the warrior of light and looked into the mirror. Then he saw what Kouji was staring at.

The image was showing Kouichi and some other girl sitting in the grass and staring at the starry sky. The girl laughed and Kouichi giggled.

"After all he… everything … happened… he…" Kouji's words were unclear and cut out of any sentences.

"M-maybe it's an illusion. Kouichi wouldn't… be that… careless..." Tommy suggested. And then he felt certainty. He didn't know where it was coming from, but he knew that this image was true. It really was happening.

Tommy felt a sudden chill. He coughed. The air became thinner. The boy felt like all energy was being sucked out of him. He fell on his knees, trying to catch his breath. A very strong headache started to develop and the image before him became blurry.

Kouji woke up from his thoughts and noticed his friend's struggle.

"Tommy!" the boy with the bandanna shouted as he fell on his knees, trying to help him up.

"It's no use. He's not even hearing you, I suspect. But then again, I've never had my memories drawn out of me, so I can't tell." A calm voice which sounded suspiciously familiar echoed above Tommy's groans. Kouji grit his teeth and looked up.

His eyes widened.

--

"Hey there, KK, can I join your star-gazing?" Ayumi approached a black-haired boy who was sitting on a rock near the house.

It was an early evening, but it was already very dark. From time to time a cold breeze was blowing through the grass, carrying a clean fresh scent of flowers.

Kouichi was immediately alarmed by the way the girl had addressed him. His breath got cut and he turned to look at her so quickly that his neck hurt.

"Sure." He said after calming a little. Kouichi looked back at the sky.

_'I should really stop reacting like an idiot every time someone calls me that.' _

He thought with a sigh.

Ayumi silently sat next to him, not taking her eyes off his face. After a few seconds Kouichi got uncomfortable by her gaze.

"What?" he asked, looking at her.

"I'm trying to figure you out." The girl smiled. "Usually a nickname isn't supposed to be so alarming and star-gazing should be fun, but you look like it's the saddest thing ever."

"Oh. Um… well, I'm like that because I knew someone who also called me that same way. And it's not the stars, I was just thinking about something."

"Is she from your world?" asked the girl curiously.

"How'd you know it's…" Kouichi's eyes widened in surprise.

"Intuition. No man talks like that about his classmate," laughed Ayumi. Kouichi smiled and let out a small giggle.

"Yeah, she was from 'my' world. But she died… a few weeks ago." His smiled faded as he looked at his feet.

"Oh my, what happened?" the girl looked sincerely worried.

"Just like me, JP and the rest of the group, she was in the Digital World on a mission… with us, I mean. She died in the last fight."

"Wait, is she the spirit girl Gami? I heard about her! Yasuo told me he heard his father and a few other people talking about it!" Ayumi's jaw dropped.

_'Spirit girl Gami?' _Kouichi thought and raised his eyebrow, while saying:

"Yoma Gami, yeah. I guess it's her."

"Oh wow. I'm sorry about your loss, Kouichi. Is that why you came here? To look for her?"

"No, not exactly. Me and JP ended up here by accident. We were actually supposed to stay in the hall of mirrors." Kouichi explained.

"Oh, I see."

After a few moments of silence, Ayumi said:

"I'll help you go back there, then. I can see it means a lot to you, and so I'll do everything I can to help you and your friend out!"

She grinned at him.

Kouichi smiled back thankfully.

--

Kouji surely had expected either Yoma or Elfmon, but not both at once.

She looked more like Yoma - her height was the same and her skin had a normal color.

On the other hand, her hair was about a meter longer than usual and had a bit of green on the ends, she had green marks all over her skin, her fingers were a bit longer, she had a big scratch on her right hand and her clothes were torn here and there.

The most amazing part were the eyes. While the right one was red, the left was green. A second later, those colors switched. And then again. Kouji felt dizzy just by looking at it, so he focused on her nose instead.

"What are you doing to him…Yoma?" the girl's name was surprisingly hard to get out and Kouji surely didn't mean for his voice to sound squeaky and so unsure.

"Oh, not much really. Don't worry, he'll be ok." Yoma's smile would've been sweet if her eyes weren't so cold.

Tommy coughed again and grabbed his head, still trying to catch his breath.

The boy with the bandanna felt sudden confidence. He closed his fists and looked straight into the girl's eyes.

"Stop. Whatever you are doing, stop it. Now." Kouji was relieved to hear his voice had turned to almost normal.

"Why? This place is so boring, and it's been a while since I've had _fun_." at the last word Yoma closed her fist. Tommy screamed. A strange glowing energy was coming out of him.

The girl grinned and her ever-changing eyes sparkled.

Kouji fished out his D-tector from his pocked. The next moment something green knocked out of his hands.

A little too late Kouji realized the air around him was full of woman-like spirits. They were floating everywhere, their whispers filling the air. Tommy was still panting and struggling.

_'Mirits.'_ Thought Kouji.

One of the green spirits carried the boy's D-tector towards Yoma, who took it with great interest.

"I've never really used one of those. Is it easy?" she asked. Kouji could sense the mocking in her tone.

Noticing how his expression was becoming angrier by the second, Yoma laughed.

"Don't tell me you want to leave _now_. The fun has just started." She grinned and tightened her grip around the blue-white D-tector. Both her eyes were now red.

_'__What now?_'

Kouji looked back down at Tommy, who didn't look like he would come to his senses anytime soon.

--

"Kohara, watch out!!"

Ayumi threw a fireball at a green spirit which was sneaking behind a tall boy with white hair. Yasuo bowed and at the same time slapped another green spirit.

The creatures were at least 20. They were hissing with fury, trying break someone's defenses. They were surely Mirits, but looked a lot more dangerous and real than the ones in the Hall of Mirrors.

It was the next day after Kouichi and JP had been transferred to Lalent. Shortly after they woke up, the Mirits had arrived.

Neither Yasuo nor Ayumi could tell why they were in Lalent, or what they wanted. But all four of the kids agreed that the situation was getting out of hand when JP almost got all of his memories erased.

Determined to get rid of the spirits, Ayumi and Yasuo had thrown themselves into a furious fight, while JP and Kouichi were sent to get reinforcements from the nearby village.

As the two were running down a hill, the older of the two was still turning in his head everything from a few minutes ago.

FLASHBACK

"People are going to suspect something! Come on, two strangers just walking in some village and saying they need help??" JP protested as he and Kouichi were buttoning up the dark-green robes Ayumi gave them.

"We don't have a choice, Junpei. Me and Kurosawa alone can hold them off long enough." Yasuo had created a water balloon filled with air around the group so they could talk for a few seconds.

"Just say it's Ayumi Kurosawa and Yasuo Kohara sending you. People won't have doubt when you tell them that. Now hurry!"

Kouichi and JP exchanged looks. Then they pulled the hoods over their heads and nodded.

END FLASHBACK

"I still think it's not a very good idea!" JP shouted as they approached a large group of wide houses, spread in the bottom of a tall hill.

"Well, it's pretty much the only plan we have right now!" responded Kouichi.

The two friends entered the village and looked around. There were many people walking the streets, chatting, selling things or hurrying to go somewhere. The two boys looked around. Everyone was wearing colorful clothes with all kinds of sparkling things on them.

"May I help you?" a tall man in a light blue and green uniform approached them. He seemed like a guard.

"Yes, Yasuo Kohara and Ayumi Kurosawa are sending us!" said Kouichi urgently.

"We, I mean the four of us, got attacked and they need help!" added JP.

"The son of the Elder needs help? We must hurry!" the man became alarmed right away. "I don't know who are you, but if you know Kohara then I guess you can be trusted."

The man turned towards the village and whistled. Almost immediately 3 women and 2 men came running.

"Now, what is the cause of the attack, boys?" asked the man in blue suit as he looked down at Kouichi and JP, who had removed their hoods.

The friends exchanged looks and Kouichi said:

"Mirits."

The people who had just come and the guard all became alarmed.

"How many?" asked a woman in a long green dress. She had short dark hair and green eyes.

"Around 20, maybe more." JP answered urgently. They had no time to waste.

Without saying another word, the group of 6 ran out of the village and up the hill.

Kouichi and JP followed them quickly.

--

"Why are you here, Kouji?" asked Yoma, her face becoming serious. Her right eye changed its color to green.

The boy looked around. He didn't see a way out of this situation.

Tommy was still on the ground, fighting to breathe. The strange glowing thing was still circling around him.

"We all came to look for you and stop you. The Mirits are attacking the Digital World." Kouji explained carefully.

"Not only that world." Yoma looked satisfied. "And how exactly did you plan to stop me?" she added, still turning Kouji's D-tector in her hand.

"You're not like that. I know you're doing this became Elfmon tells you to."

"Who are you to say? You don't know what's going on in my head. You don't know." Yoma's voice was rising with each word.

"I know who I fell in love with!" Kouji shouted, standing up. Then he grit his teeth, determined not to keep talking in case he said something to make it worse.

For a few seconds everyone was frozen. Even the Mirits were standing in one place, like they were waiting for the girl's reaction.

And then Yoma started laughing. Kouji looked like he was hit by lightning. Tommy's breaths were now calm and deep. Seems like whatever it was that was happening to him, it had stopped.

"You," The girl started, still laughing. "You're impossible! Did you really think you'll get me twice with that? Please, Kouji Minamoto. Even if this really is how you feel, I'm afraid I won't let it get to me this time, no." she shook her head. Yoma sighed, still giggling.

"Kou…Kouichi… do you remember… Kouichi…?" suddenly whispered Tommy. The boy looked up and tried to stand. He was sweating and trembling, but looked determined.

"I'm surprised _you_ still do." Muttered Yoma after a few moments of thought.

"Don't… tell me… you forgot him… and Zoe and Takuya and JP…"

Kouji grabbed Tommy's elbow and helped him stand up straight.

For a moment it looked like Yoma hesitated. Then she shook her head and looked at the closest spirit.

"they're yours. It's been a while since you had fresh memories, right? Don't bother to be careful. You can take everything if you want."

The Mirits that had gathered hissed in apparent joy.

"Here!" Yoma threw Kouji his D-tector. The boy caught it. "Although I doubt it'll be of any use. See you later." The girl waved at them, turned around and walked down the corridor, a strange green glow surrounding her.

"How did you become so strong… Tommy?" she mumbled to herself as she looked at all the memories she had taken from him - they were all reflected on the mirrors.

The Mirits threw themselves at the two kids with a splitting scream.

--

"White roses!" shouted two women in long green dresses. Millions of bushes started forming around them, and hundreds of white roses bloomed. The Mirits froze before the flowers, not daring to come any closer.

A few meters away, a man was throwing fire at a few more green creatures.

They could hardly be called spirits anymore - the attacks were definitely not going through them, which in a way was good.

"On the other hand," said JP while he was waving around a wooden stick "it really hurts when they bite you!"

"And there's also that part that you can forget your own name if they do." Added Kouichi, also holding a much longer stick. It was pure luck Kouji had taught him a little bit of kendo, so he wasn't completely helpless.

The two, for some reason, hadn't managed to evolve. So instead Ayumi had thrown them the wide sticks, saying it should help.

"Easy for _her_ to say, _she_ can throw fire!!" shouted JP, hitting a Mirit and making it draw away, hissing in pain and anger.

On the other side of the field, right before the forest was starting, Yasuo and Ayumi were standing back to back, throwing water and fire. At the same time the boy was saying something in a strange, song-like language. It seemed like it was having an effect, because the Mirits were slowly withdrawing.

The guard and one woman were fighting with the help of wind and fire. They were protecting a man and a woman who both had collapsed.

"I think we won!" shouted Yasuo after a long hour, taking down the remaining three Mirits with blocks of ice. The rest of the creatures were defeated and they had disappeared.

Ayumi broke down, exhausted. She was trembling, apparently most of her energy was wasted.

"Phew." JP wiped his forehead. "I should definitely start working out more so I could get used to that kind of stuff."

"I certainly hope we wont have to get used to it." said the guard, helping up a woman in long, blue, silk pants and a light purple top.

"We must tell my father." Said Yasuo, closing his fist. "I bet she will be sending more of them."

"Wait. We still need explanations." Said Kouichi, approaching.

"You'll get your damn explanations." Responded Ayumi, still panting.

"Master Kohara is right, we must warn the capital." Said one of the women who had summoned the white roses.

"Master?" Kouichi and JP exchanged looks. Apparently there was a lot more going on than it seemed at first.

--

**thanks for reading! ch18 will be up soon ((:**

**please R&R!**


	18. Chapter 18

**yay 18 is up XD hope you like it (: a little Frontier style action too this time, although it's... lame XD**

**anyway, please R&R!**

18. About Therra and the prisoner of Lalent

The attack has started part 2 

"So it says here that there is a legend about some Hall of Mirrors which was a kind of passageway to other worlds." Jesse scanned with his eyes the article. "My dad's been researching that for some time, but he never found anything of importance." Added the boy and looked away from the computer screen.

Zoe, who was sitting on Jesse's bed, sighed.

"Well?" asked Takuya, entering the room with half-a-biscuit in his mouth. "Anifing yef?"

Zoe raised her eyebrow and shot him a warning glance. Takuya quickly chewed and swallowed.

"Sorry, Takuya, nothing." Jesse smiled slightly. Then an idea hit him. "Wait, maybe, if I manage to hack into the system of the MoT…" muttered the boy, typing something with great speed.

"MoT?" asked Takuya and looked at the screen from behind the boy's shoulder.

Jesse stopped typing and the screen filled up with white and red numbers and letters. He slowly turned towards Takuya, his eyes narrowing.

"MoT," started Jesse with a low whisper. "Is the way the people are obligated to call the Magicians of Therra."

"Magicia…"

"Shhh!!" Jesse jumped and covered Takuya's mouth. They both fell with a loud THUMP.

Zoe jumped on her feet.

"Not so loud, you idiot!" hissed the younger boy. "No one is allowed to say this!! I myself broke the rules by telling you! Say MoT or just M!"

"Alright, alright, get off me…"

Zoe shook her head and muttered something about boys and how noisy they are being.

The computer made a strange squeaky sound. Jesse stood up and sat in front of the screen.

"Ok, now if I just find a way to get around the passwords… in the meantime, you two can take a walk, but please don't wander too far. Here" without even looking at her, Jesse threw Zoe a small black cellphone that was lying next to the keyboard. "That way we can keep in contact."

While Takuya and Zoe were goin gout, they heard Jetsuo shouting:

"And please don't talk too much to people!!"

--

A day after the fight against the Mirits, JP, Kouichi, Yasuo and Ayumi took off for the Capital, where Yasuo's father lived.

The travel took them a long time, mostly because Yasuo had disappeared somewhere and Ayumi insisted that they shouldn't move without him.

The boy came back after a day and a half. He demanded to speak to Ayumi right away and didn't let JP or Kouichi listen.

After around two hours I which the girl burst out a few times on something Yasuo said or did, the group finally moved on. They arrived at the palace on the morning of the third day.

"Yas!" a girl with long curly light-green hair jumped from inside the palace. She had green leaf-like tattoos on her face and hands and was wearing a long yellow dress.

Her left eye was yellow and the other one was orange.

Yasuo sighed and responded, with slight annoyance:

"Hello, Layla."

Ayumi frowned.

"Ah, Kurosawa." Said the girl, a little less enthusiastically.

"Chiaki." Hissed Ayumi.

"And you are…?" Layla turned towards JP and Kouichi, who were wearing long dark robes.

"Junpei Shibayama, JP for short." The boy with short brown hair grinned.

"Kouichi Kimura." Said his friend without even a trace of a smile.

"Well, welcome! And cheer up, won't you! Nobody died, right?" laughed Layla.

Kouichi decided to ignore her last words.

"Your friends have weird names." Layla whispered to Yasuo, who responded nothing.

The five kids entered a huge hall, which has walls of some kind of light-colored wood. And there were plants everywhere - around the columns, on the walls and even on the floor. There were all kinds of flowers, and as Kouichi noticed, most of them were white roses.

"Thornless white roses. Apparently, the Mirits don't like something about them. Maybe it's the smell." Layla explained, noticing JP and Kouichi's curious looks.

_'__Thornless roses? Now that's a first…_' thought the older boy.

"Your father heard about the attack. He's waiting for you." Layla said to Yasuo with a cheerful smile.

Something about the girl's tone made Ayumi ask:

"Is he in a bad mood?"

"Let's say we've seen better days." The girl with pink hair pushed big wooden doors and the kids entered whet seemed like the throne hall. It wasn't as large as the previous room and at the end of it were sitting a line of men and women, all wearing colourful and sparkly clothes.

Silence fell the moment the five kids approached.

"Elder." Layla bowed low right before whet seemed to be the most important person in the line.

He was a young-looking man with short white hair and blue eyes. Yasuo's father.

He nodded.

"Leave us, Chiaki. And the rest of you too, please."

Bowing and nodding, the men and women stood up and left as silently as possible.

"Yes, Master Lythic." On her way out, Layla winked at Yasuo. Kouichi heard how Ayumi murmured something in a strange language.

"Sit." The man whose name was Lythic pointed towards four small pillows that were on the floor. The kids did as they were told.

"Where is your brother, Kouichi?" asked the man calmly.

The boy's jaw dropped.

"H-how did you…"

"From your name I understand that you're the older of two brothers. Am I wrong?"

"n-no, sir. Kouji is… I don't really know where he is. How did you know my name?"

"The same day you came, Yasuo contacted me." The Elder stood up and approached Kouichi. Lythic examined his face as the boy held his breath.

"You have not smiled in a long time, Kouichi Kimura." The man finally said. This was not question; therefore the boy didn't say anything.

Yasuo coughed.

"dad, we have to do something. The Mirits are a lot stronger than the legends say. I fear they have physical form. And they are taller than how you described them."

His father straightened up.

"I know."

--

"Do you think it's really safe out here?" asked Zoe a little worried.

"Relax, will you? It's not like there is a difference between us and the rest of the people…" Takuya smiled, walking confidently.

The next moment a tall man with a black suit and a dark cloak over it passed by them, walking to the other direction. Zoe shivered and turned to look at him until he disappeared around the corner.

Even though he looked like a businessman in his 30s there was something weird about him… the girl couldn't quite understand what. It's like he stood out of the crowd.

Then Zoe saw another one that was coming at them from the other side of the street.

The girl instinctively grabbed Takuya's wrist. The boy rolled up his eyes.

"You can take my hand normally, no one will sue you."

"No, look!" the girl pulled his hand and made him stop. Then she pointed at the man in the suit and cloak that was coming at them.

"What?" Takuya raised his eyebrow.

"Look at him!" Zoe shrieked.

"Zoe, I know you're coming from Italy and that your fashion sense is a little more - how should I say it - picky, but there's no need to panic about it. So he's wearing a cloak over a suit, so what?" Takuya sighed in desperation.

"Not his clothes, dummy! His whole appearance!! Doesn't it give you the creeps?" Zoe's voice was getting lower and lower as the man got to them and made a turn to the right. Then he suddenly stopped. The kid's held their breath and Takuya understood his friend's concern. There was a strange aura around this person.

The man slowly turned around and looked at them. Takuya moved in front of Zoe in a sign of protection.

"What do you want?" The boy said in a low, determined tone.

"You two are not from here." The man said.

"That's not true." Zoe tried to sound as convincing as possible. Her voice came out a little too squeaky.

"No need to lie. The council saw you coming through the portal."

"You must be confusing us with someone else." Takuya said angrily.

As quick as a cat, the man stepped before them and lifted up Takuya by the front of his jacket. Zoe looked around desperately, but it appeared like all people had just faded out into thin air. The streets were empty. Then the girl remembered about her D-tector. She slowly pulled it out. The man didn't notice, as his entire attention was towards Takuya.

"I can't sense generated IDs. You and your girlfriend are coming with me. We cannot let someone like you run around freely."

"Ha! Do you think we'll go that easily?"

"I will not give you a choice." The man narrowed his eyes and a strange glowing energy started circling around him.

Takuya and Zoe understood that this man was from the so-called Magicians of Therra and that he was no joke.

Takuya pulled out his D-tector.

"SPIRIT EVOLUTION!!" the two kids shouted at the same time.

--

"So, in other words, you want to go back?" asked Lythic, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes, please. We really ended up here by accident." JP said.

"There are no accidents, Junpei. I know this maybe a little… rude, but I'm hoping you can stay here and help us. I believe you can. And besides, the portal will not be opening for some time."

"I'm sure you can make it open if you want to." Said Kouichi in a low tone.

"You're smart, boy. It's true, we can make it open by force, but I see no need." Lythic smiled kind of mysteriously.

Ayumi was staring at her knees silently. She decided not to tell her master about Kouichi and Yoma.

"We can't help you. Our D-tectors don't work in here." JP said. When Yasuo's father heard the word 'D-tector' a small flash of anger passed through his eyes.

"You do not need them in order to transform." He said a little coldly.

"wha-…" the kid's eyes widened.

"That's true." Confirmed Yasuo. "You just need to concentrate… I think. I've read in books about that."

JP and Kouichi exchanged looks.

"Look," started Kouichi after a moment of silence. "The last fight I was in didn't end well and I think I speak for JP as well when I say we're not up to the challenge of… another one. Personally, I've had enough. We just want to go back to the Hall of mirrors, that's all. From there we can try and help you, and I'm sure we can somehow… persuade Elfmon to stop the Mirits from attacking." He looked very tired.

Lythic sighed. Then he looked towards Yasuo and nodded. The boy stood up.

"Come with me." Yasuo waved his hand and Kouichi and JP stood up and walked after him

For a second Ayumi looked like she wanted to say something against that, but she changed her mind and followed.

--

"Pyro darts!!" shouted Agunimon. The magician stopped the small fireballs with a shining white barrier.

"Hurricane Wave!!" Kazemon threw long, thin tornadoes on the man, who just turned them against her with a simple mutter.

She escaped just in time and the tornadoes crashed into the building behind her.

"I don't think it's a good idea to fight inside the city!" cried the fairy-like digimon.

"I know, but it's not like we have a choice! Pyro Punch!" added Agunimon and sent the fire dragon towards the man who blocked it with a wave of his hand.

"This dude is no joke…!"

"Frecce del acqua!" shouted the man and a moment later Agunimon was attacked by a line of water arrows.

"He's… speaking Italian?!" Kazemon's jaw dropped. "I thought magic was supposed to be in Latin or something!"

"Does that even matter?!" shouted Agunimon angrily. He was trying to launch an attack, but the holes on his gauntlet were wet and no fire was coming out of them. "Damn the magicians and their stupid Italian attacks…" he muttered and added:

"Pyro tornado!"

"And I thought you'd impress me." the man said calmly, moving out of Agunimon's way. The digimon crashed into another building.

Then Kazemon figured it out. She grinned and said with a soft voice:

"Love tap."

The magician froze. Then a slight blush ran across his cheeks.

"Please leave us alone." Kazemon said with a fluffy voice. The man nodded with a dreamy gaze. Then he slowly fell on the ground, unconscious.

Zoe, who had de-evolved, raised her eyebrow.

"Let's go!" Takuya, who had also de-evolved, grabbed her wrist and they both ran in the direction of Jesse's house.

--

The four kids entered a wide room with one big window and no furniture.

Kouichi took a breath with more than just simple surprise. He was more-or-less stunned.

Right across the room, next to the far wall, there was a high wooden block, made of many planks put together. On it was chained a girl who was looking down, so her whole face was hidden behind her long, orange hair. She was wearing a white dress that got a little below the knee. The girl was being restrained by two heavy metal bars at the very middle that were bended and fit her body like they were made to be. She was breathing heavily.

When she heard the door closing, she looked up slowly. A blindfold was covering her right eye. She opened her mouth and hissed, her uncovered eye widening in fury.

"ya… su… o…" she started in a low, hissing tone."…Kohara!!" she finished with a shout, her eye changing its color from red to green, and then red again. In the speed of light, a poisonous-looking plant broke out from the floor and wrapped around Yasuo's leg, climbing up.

Yasuo calmly closed his eyes and the plant turned to ice. Then the boy just kicked it away.

Kouichi bit his lip. JP's jaw had dropped and Ayumi closed her fists. Apparently, Yoma was not noticing anyone else but the white-haired boy. She hissed again, this time a grin spreading across her face.

"Father asked me to capture her… I did while we were on our way here."

"so that's where you disappeared to." Said JP.

"Exactly. Kurosawa," Yasuo looked at Ayumi with anger. "Thought it wasn't a good idea to bring her here. But my father believed we can get out something… useful."

"What do you mean 'get out'?" hissed Kouichi, taking a deep breath, trying not to lose it. Yoma turned her eye towards him with a bit of curiosity. Then narrowed it, as if trying to remember something.

"Now, spirit girl. Why don't you tell us what you're after? or why you sent those Mirits?"

"You… will not believe me." Hissed Yoma, not taking her looks off Kouichi.

"Try anyway." Yasuo was almost nice.

"I did not send the Mirits. I just opened the gate… and partly by accident. I didn't tell them to come and attack you." Her eye became green and she was talking like a normal human being.

"You're right, I don't believe you." Yasuo knit his brows and the girl shrieked in pain. The two metal bars folded towards the block so they were tightening the grip around her. The girl's head dropped and she was taking fast, shallow breaths.

"I thought so." she muttered.

"Yoma, please tell us the truth." Ayumi seemed sincerely worried.

JP looked like he would rather be anywhere else but here.

"I told you the truth. I don't know why the Mirits attacked you. I just know they did. I know why I made them attack Kouji and Tommy, but what dealings you've had with them in the past…"

The girl coughed.

"You're lying again." Yasuo said. The girl was struggling to breathe. The boy closed his fist and the girl screamed.

"How does it feel like having a taste of your own medicine?" grit Yasuo from behind teeth.

"These… are not my… memories… so stop… showing me things… that… never happened!!" Yoma shouted, he eye closed. "Stop!" she shouted, struggling to break free.

"Stop it." muttered Kouichi, narrowing his eyes. Yasuo either didn't hear him or he didn't care, because Yoma kempt mumbling, struggling and tying to breathe.

"Not… mine…" she muttered, coughing again.

And then Kouichi snapped. He lost control. Without a second thought he punched Yasuo and the both fell on the ground. Ayumi shrieked and JP jumped. Yoma stopped struggling.

"what the hell are you doing, you bastrad?!" Kouichi shouted at the top of his voice "I'll kill you, i dont need my freaking spirit or anything, I'll kill you with my own two hands, Yasuo Kohara!! and not only for what you said when I met you!!"

JP tried to tear them apart, but Kouichi turned against him as well:

"...dont you dare holding me back, Junpei!!" then the black haired boy turned back to Yasuo, who was apparently surprised by the attack. "...kohara, if you ever dare to do this again to her, I swear, I'll..."

"Kouichi, stop that!" JP caught the back of Kouichi's shirt and pulled him away.

Yasuo sat and rubbed his nose. He still seemed a little surprised.

Yoma slowly looked up. Memories were filling up her head and she was slowly recalling most of what had happened what seemed to be a long time ago.

--

"You WHAT??" shouted Jesse.

"Yeah, Zoe took him down pretty easily... all she had to do was that crazy love step or something..." Takuya seemed a little dull.

"I didn't have a choice, Takuya! Come on, stop whining about it." Zoe said loudly and with annoyance.

"I'm not whining about anything! I'm just saying!" exclaimed the boy.

"You beat an M.?! What are you crazy or something?? They are like... like... they put all the rules! Everyone has to follow what they say! They control everything! Oh my, oh my..." Jesse shook his head.

"You were the one who was going to hack into their computer!" said Zoe angrily.

"that's not the same!!" shouted the boy.

A loud knock cut their conversation.

"Great," muttered Jesse. "Just great. My father will be out of town for the next week and now i bet they are coming to get you!"

--

**I hope you liked!! **

**i know the Zoe and Takuya vs magician was LAME, but i was out of ideas... lol '''**

**no Lalent next time I promise! and kouichi snapping, this is my fav moment XD**

**please R&R!**


	19. Chapter 19

19

19. Memories and Magic

_"Here!" Yoma threw Kouji his D-tector. The boy caught it. "Although I doubt it'll be of any use. See you later." The girl waved at them, turned around and walked down the corridor, a strange green glow surrounding her. _

_"How did you become so strong… Tommy?" she mumbled to herself as she looked at all the memories she had taken from him - they were all reflected on the mirrors. _

_The Mirits threw themselves at the two kids with a splitting scream._

_--  
_

"Argh…" Kouji was trying to shake a few Mirits of his right hand and at the same time was kicking aside three more. Not that it had effect - his foot was just passing through them.

"I… wonder… how come it hurts so much… when they bite you!!" Tommy was waving his hat, trying to chase them away. He had a few bite marks on his right hand.

"Quite frankly, I don't care!" Kouji responded. His bandanna had fallen on the floor and little drops of sweat were running down his cheek.

The two boys were back to back now. The Mirits had stopped trying to bite them, now they were just hissing and circling them.

"What the hell… are they doing now?!" asked the older boy, breathing heavily.

Suddenly he felt strange. His head was dizzy and he found it hard to think about where he comes from or why was he in the Hall. Kouji shook his head.

"Ko-Kouji… we… we're coming from the Real World. Right?" Tommy sounded a little confused himself.

"Yes, we're from the Real World, but we… we are also… Legendary warriors, don't forget that! Our other home is… it's… I… my mother is… I have a brother, I…" Kouji didn't even notice his speaking manner had become unsure and broken. He knit his brows. There was… something about his brother… and a boy with goggles, and a blonde girl, then an older boy who was good at magic tricks… or, maybe, the blonde girl was good with magic tricks? No, it couldn't be that way…

Tommy sat. He tried to think of his home. His older brother and his parents. His friends. School. The Digital World.

The only thing that was stuck in his head was flashes and white space. Nothing else. Everything was white. Empty.

And it then there was this headache.

Tommy was taking deep breaths. He felt his eyes closing.

"Don't give in…" the warrior of Ice though he heard someone saying. But it was so far… his headache was slowly disappearing.

Kouji also fell on his knees. It was like poison was taking him out. The Mirits were still hissing and circling around them.

The two boys lost consciousness.

**Flashback**

"Heya, Kouji!" a girl with short orange hair leaned towards a boy with dark blue eyes. They were both wearing warm clothes. "Say, did you know we got a new student?"

"Oh really." The boy responded with no interest whatsoever.

"Yep! He's in my class" the girl rose with an 'I-know-it-all' smile. "And he's so cute!" she added with a dreamy expression.

"So what's new…" muttered the boy whose name was Kouji with apparent annoyance.

The girl giggled.

A sigh and the picture changed.

The same boy and girl were in a stuffed bus.

The driver hit the breaks suddenly and the girl, letting out a curse, held on to her friend's jacket.

"He's totally insane!" she shouted.

"Keep it down, Yoma. We're all on that opinion, but not all of us complain." Kouji answered calmly.

The girl murmured something under her breath. Then she saw something that took her attention.

"Look at them!" she exclaimed. "Can't they see this is a bus and not a private room?!"

"They're not doing anything." Muttered Kouji, looking at a boy and a girl who were leaning against eachother and saying something with low voices.

"Yeah, well… they're close."

"We're not in a much different position you know."

Yoma grinned and turned towards him.

"but everyone knows we're just friends, right?" she said with a sweet tone.

Kouji blushed. She was so close… he could count her eyelashes if he wanted to… no, this was too close… this was wrong…

**END FLASHBACK**

**FLASHBACK**

"so, tell me, Yoma... do you have a D-tector?" asked a girl with long blonde hair.  
"yeah... you can say so." Answered another girl with short orange hair and bright red eyes. She was looking for something in the bag.  
"what do you mean?" JP looked at her curiously.  
"well... I've never used it before, I'm not even sure I know how." The girl responded, pulling out her wallet.  
"wait... you still have it?!" asked a short boy with amazement.  
"sure, why?"  
"ours turned back into cellphones." muttered a boy with long black hair tied on a ponytail.  
"oh."  
"your lemonades, kids. and the check." A young waitress with apparently a little too much makeup put down a tray with seven glasses and a piece of paper.

_'She's so weird…'_ thought the youngest of the whole group while a chubby boy was asking Yoma a question. _'It's almost like… she's not ever human… so hard to explain… but… I wonder if I'm the only one who can feel that…'_

Yoma suddenly turned her eyes towards him. They were cold… slicing… so red, so deep…

"You seem to be in a lot of thought, Tommy." She smiled. And that horrible feeling vanished.

"Sorry… I dozed off…" the young boy responded.

The picture changed.

It was cold… all signs were showing the end of the summer.

The school year would start soon. But this wasn't what was on Tommy's mind right now. He was standing next to a tall chubby boy.

The two were at the end of a group of seven kids.

They were all in a graveyard.

A boy with short black hair put down a rose in front of one of the gravestones.  
No one dared to speak.

A girl with long blonde hair broke down in tears, and a boy with goggles around his neck tried to comfort her.

Tommy looked down at his feet.

This was not right. It wasn't supposed to be this way.

Then it all became black and he could only hear a voice:

_'__How… how did you become so strong all on your own?! How did you manage to do that?!'_

Then something shook him.

Tommy opened his eyes sharply. The image was blurry for a moment. Then he recognized Kouji.

He was kneeling, holding Tommy's shoulders and saying something.

"They're gone! Something happened, and they got scared."

Tommy shook his head and the two boys stood up.

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked, picking hit hat up.

"I've no idea. At some point I kind of came back to my senses and saw them fleeing… they looked scared. I also heard someone shouting."

"What do we do now?" the younger boy looked around.

"I suggest we go after Yoma… we might still have some chance… to do something. I think it was that way." Kouji pointed to his right.

Tommy sighed.

--

"Great," muttered Jesse. "Just great. My father will be out of town for the next week and now i bet they are coming to get you!"

The boy walked fast towards the other end of the house, saying:

"Come on, I'll take you to the basement, even though I doubt it'll do any good… move it!!" He added, stopping for a second and looking behind his shoulder.

Takuya and Zoe exchanged looks and followed him.

They entered a small room right next to his room. Jesse moved around some boxes, and then moved away the carpet that was hiding a wooden door in the floor.

The boy opened it.

The doorbell rang and someone shouted:

"Open up!"

"Quick!!" Jesse almost pushed Takuya and Zoe down the stairs.

"Let us fight them!!" shouted Takuya, but Jesse only shook his head urgently and slammed the wooden top.

Everything was covered in darkness.

"stupid little boy!" huffed Takuya, trying to find his way through feeling what was in front of him. He heard how Jesse answered the door.

Takuya's hands hit something soft.

"Takuya Kanbara!" squealed Zoe and slapped him. Her face turned crimson. "I know we're kind of going out, but that's no reason to… grab on like that!!"

"I'm sorry; I can't see anything in here! Besides, we have to be quiet." Takuya rubbed his cheek. "This is going to leave a mark…" he added with a mutter.

"Serves you right." Grit Zoe from behind teeth. She put her hand on the wall, trying to find a light switch.

"Yes?" huffing, Jesse opened the door. Two tall men in suits and cloaks over them were standing there. The one in front looked a little older.

Unlike usually, the street was empty. Everyone had cleared out the moment the magicians appeared. No one really wanted to stay in their way.

"We don't want to waste any time. Hand them over and we'll close our eyes to your crime." Said the older-looking man.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Jesse put on the most innocent expression he could.

And then he heard a shout and a bang.

_'Are they out of their minds!?'_ Jesse thought, trying not to give away anything.

"That… was the TV. I left it on. So are you guys hungry?" he grinned as widely as he could.

"Foolish little boy. You cannot lie to us." The same man said.

"Not even a little bit?" Jesse asked innocently. The magician's eyes narrowed in anger.

"Move." He said quietly. Jesse pretended he didn't hear.

The man quickly pushed him aside, slamming him onto the wall. The boy shouted in pain.

The companion of the one who pushed away Jesse whispered something and ropes of light wrapped around the boy's body.

"The shout came from this way." The first magician said, pointing towards the end of the corridor.

"What…" Takuya froze, trying to hear what was going on. He's just heard a slam and Jesse's shout.

"I hope they didn't do anything to him…" Zoe whispered, trembling a little.

"Foolish, stupid boy! He should've let me fight them!! Dammit…-" Takuya kept cursing under his breath.

They heard someone's steps. Both the kids held their breaths as the wooden door above them opened.

A man's face showed as he looked down.

"Hah. You were pretty easy to find." He grinned and shouted behind his shoulder: "I found them!"

"Good." The older of the two stood at the entrance of the room.

"Get out." The magician with the grin said.

"Make us." Takuya had a determined expression on his face.

"Your friend is already in enough pain. Do you want to make it worse?"

"Takuya, let's do what they say! I don't want Jesse to get hurt!" Zoe squeaked.

"That's a good girl." The man rose and stepped aside so they kids could climb up, Takuya still cursing from time to time.

--

Tommy was already tired of it all. Everything. The fights. The meaningless fighting. And Yoma… why was she even here? It made no sense at all.

Tommy knew her 'spirit' was only in here, but still… made no sense at all. What was she really after? Why did she let the Mirits attack them?

"Hey… look, isn't that…? Who the hell…??" Kouji cut his thoughts.

The kids had been walking for about… an hour perhaps? They weren't exactly sure anymore.

As they were moving along the mirrors, they could see an image of some white haired boy saying something, while Yoma was chained to a group of vertical planks. The girl seemed like struggling.

The next moment Kouichi could be seen attacking the white-haired boy.

"I think… this is happening right now." Muttered Tommy. The two kids were staring with expressions of confusion.

"One of these days I'm sure it's going to become clear." Muttered Kouji as the image changed.

A girl with long red hair was kneeling beside Yoma, wrapping a bandage around her right hand. She was talking with a mute voice, and Yoma responded shortly.

"This is just weird." Said Kouji after the image slowly faded away. "um, Tommy… since we don't have anything better to do, and, apparently, we can't get out…"

"Yeah?" the younger boy asked, still looking at the mirror.

"…I wanted to ask you since we came back to the real world, but I kept forgetting… back then, in the castle of Elements… when Yoma separated you from the team, what… happened?"

"Oh… that." Tommy took a deep breath. "Well, um… I'm not exactly sure, if to be honest…"

--

On their way out, Takuya and Zoe saw the tied up Jess. He had come to his senses, although the front of his shirt was torn here and there from the energy of the magical ropes.

"Jesse!" exclaimed Zoe in horror.

"He's going to be fine. Now move!" the older-looking man pushed her violently and she almost tripped over.

"You do that one more time and I'll burn you to the ground!" hissed Takuya and glared up at the magician.

"Say, do you think we should walk all the way there? Or should I call for a car to come pick us up?" asked the younger of the two, pulling out a cellphone.

"We don't have time to wait for a car. We'll use the side-streets."

Takuya and Zoe exchanged worried looks. This didn't sound good.

"I think it's time we clear our business once and for all." Whispered Takuya, reaching for his pocket. Zoe nodded.

In the house, the magical ropes faded away and Jesse stood up.

"Time to call the pros." He muttered to himself, quickly entering his room and sitting in front of the screen.

--

**A/N: smells like a fight?! yes!**

**but you'll have to wait til 21, since 20 will be all bout lalent, Kouji & Tommy D**

**I hope you enjoyed anyway, please R&R!**


	20. Chapter 20

**sorry for the long wait, y'all!! hope you like this one, please R&R!**

20. The four Queens (pt1) and Tommy's story

"are you... are you alright now?"  
"better, yeah."  
Kouichi sat on the bed, not taking his eyes off the girl who had leaned against the wall, her knees pulled up to her chest. half of her face was covered by a blindfold. she also had bandages on both of the upper parts of her hands.  
"Ayumi was nice enough to take care of the wounds on me." the girl added, turning towards the boy.  
Kouichi nodded.

It was now late in the evening. Everyone had gone to their rooms, although no one really slept.  
There were guards in front of Yoma's door. They had let Kouichi in only because Ayumi gave them permission to do so.

"So… you really…?" the boy started asking carefully.  
Yoma shook her head.  
"I'm sorry, Kouichi, I really can't remember a lot."  
"yeah... I thought you wouldn't." the boy smiled weakly. Yoma bit her lip.  
"that was some impressive punch though!" the girl grinned after a few moments of silence.  
"yeah, I should hope so!" Kouichi laughed. "after all, it was for you."  
the girl blushed in deep red and turned away.  
"thanks."

Another moment of silence.  
"Kouji introduced us months before everything started." Kouichi didn't really know why was he saying all that. "And then, after we fought Elfmon, you and I…"  
Yoma's lips landed on his and cut the sentence. A second later she backed away.  
"I said I didn't remember **a lot.**" She whispered. "I didn't mean everything."

********************************************************

"Back then, in the castle of Elements… when Yoma separated you from the team, what… happened?"  
"Oh… that." Tommy took a deep breath. "Well, um… I'm not exactly sure, if to be honest…" he knit his eyebrows. "This stupid place makes me forget some things…"  
"Did she hurt you?" asked Kouji.  
Tommy smiled slightly.  
"Not much, actually… I think I kind of understand her… in a way… and about what happened…"

[FLASHBACK]

"Tommy, wake up!"  
The boy opened his eyes and blinked.  
"Y-Yoma…! You're ok!" he exclaimed and stood up. The girl nodded shortly.  
"Follow me; we have to get you out of here." She said eagerly. Tommy looked around and saw the rest of the group. They were all unconscious.  
"But… we can't leave them here!" he turned to look at Yoma a little furiously.  
"They'll be fine!" she waved her hand. "But you're in danger. Come on!"

Before he could say anything else, she was already dragging him out of the large white hall. Looking around, Tommy noticed many ornaments of plants and all sorts of… doodles…?

"Where are we going?" he asked Yoma, who was still holding his wrist. They were walking up white clean stairs. The girl didn't respond and Tommy stopped, shaking her hand off.  
"How do you know your way around?" he asked in anger.  
"I had time to take a tour." Yoma responded sarcastically "Come on!"  
She kept walking up the stairs, throwing glances at him. Tommy looked at her with suspicion, but followed.

They entered another big room, also with white walls. It looked like a bedroom - with a desk of light wood, a large bed and a balcony.

"My personal bedroom." Yoma grinned.  
"Stop joking around… we're probably not even allowed to be here! What's going on, this is the castle of Elements, isn't it?" Tommy crossed his hand and narrowed his eyes.  
"Aw, lil' Tommy is scared, eh? Don't worry; no one is going to hurt you… without my permission." She grinned. Something about her changed… no, she still looked the same, but… somehow… different. She raised her hand and closed her fist.  
A dark green plant climbed from the floor and warped around Tommy's leg. The boy let out a squeak: the plant's thorns were small, but painful. He tried to shake it off and at the same time not to panic.  
"How strong are you without Takuya or J.P. around, huh?" Yoma said calmly.  
"wh… what are you talking about?" Tommy was still trying to get the plant off his leg. it was now starting to bleed a little. "What are you doing…? How?!"  
"You know, an old friend once asked me the same thing… speaking of which, I haven't seen her in a while... wonder what she's up to." Yoma was sitting on the bed, examining her nails.  
The realization suddenly hit Tommy.

[FLASHBACK CUT]

*************************************************

The news were now getting to the main topic that week:  
"…the doctors say they still haven't found a cause for so many people losing their memory and having hallucinations…"  
The telephone rang and a boy with long black hair, tied on a ponytail, made his way towards the hallway. His serious green eyes were full of concern.

_'First… my sister… and now all that…' _

He picked up.  
"Hello?"  
"Hello, Peter?" a girl's voice with slight French accent said form the other side.  
"Yes?" the boy knit his eyebrows and closed his eyes. He felt so tired…  
"It's me, Emily, Amy! Remember?"  
Peter's eyes opened suddenly. Emily… he didn't really like that girl. Especially after she said Yoma 'attacked' her.  
"Yeah… I remember you. Didn't you move to France?"  
"We're here for 2 weeks." She responded cheerfully. "How are you?"  
"I'm…" Peter thought for a moment. Should he really…? "I'm fine…"  
"How's Yoma? I'd like to meet her again and apologize for something."  
"Y-Yoma…" Peter murmured. How the hell do you tell someone something like this…?? "She…" he stumbled again.  
"Yes…?" Amy asked with a sweet tone.  
"Did you… see the news from… a few months ago?" Peter asked. Maybe they aired this in France, too…  
"Which ones?"  
"About that girl… who…"  
"Oh, this girl who lost consciousness suddenly and passed away later the day…? Yeah, very sad story. I don't think they said her na-…" suddenly she stopped talking. "W-wait… Yoma…? She…?"  
Peter could feel the weakness in her tone.  
"yes." he responded shortly.  
"I-I'm so… so sorry…... oh mon Dieu... " Amy whispered and kept muttering something in French. The boy assumed she had covered her mouth with a hand.  
"It's ok."  
"I-I… I think… I have to go now… but I'll go visit… the… I'm sorry, again, Peter! Goodbye!"  
"Thanks… bye, Amy."

He put down the phone and glanced to a small picture next to it.

*************************************************

[FLASHBACK CONTINUE]

"All this time…?" Tommy whispered.  
"Well, not all the time… but since recently." Yoma kept looking at her fingers calmly.  
"What do you need me for? Why?" he said loudly.  
"My, you really do have a big mouth, boya." She looked at his face. "I wonder… are you being so confident because… you think they'll come save you? What if I tell you they won't come? What If I tell you you're on your own here?"  
"I'm not… on my own!" the boy responded.  
"Oh, but you are. Takuya isn't gonna come save you, Tommy. Nobody is. Does that make you feel strong?"  
"I don't understand…"  
"How, Tommy. That's all I'd like to know. Be a good boy and tell me. How did you become so strong? How, from a crybaby, you became… this?" she stood up and kneelt. Her smile had disappeared.  
"I realized many things."  
"No one can become strong on their own, Tommy. No one can be on their own."  
"I did. Not entirely on my own, but…"  
"Stop these games, little boy!" she grabbed the front of his shirt. "Everyone needs someone to feel confident! And now, you, suddenly, start talking back at me while you're completely defenseless…they will not come to save you, Tommy!!"

[END FLASHBACK]

"…from there I don't… remember almost anything." The boy ended his short story.  
"So… when we met you again, you acted all surprised??"  
"I didn't want to worry you." Tommy let an apologizing smile spread across his face.  
"This explains why she… attacked you earlier." Kouji murmured.  
"I feel bad for her." Tommy looked at the ground and knit his eyebrows. "She's not all that bad..."  
"And that Elfmon's messing with her head!" hissed Kouji, closing his fists.

*************************************************

Kouichi yawned and looked around.  
"Come on, Mr. and Ms. Sunshine, we have to go!" Ayumi opened the door. "Aw, you're cute like that."  
She smiled widely.  
Yoma frowned, rising her head from the boy's shoulder.  
"What's taking you so long?" Yasuo entered, his hands crossed before his chest.  
"They're just waking up! Aren't they adorable?" the red-haired girl elbowed him  
"We don't have time for this." The boy answered and stepped closer to Yoma. "Hands forward. I don't want to risk anything."  
While Yasuo was handcuffing her, Kouichi opened his mouth to protest, but Yoma looked at him warningly and shook her head. The girl jumped from the bed.  
"Hey, guys. They just sent me to tell you to hurry." J.P. peeked inside, followed by two guards.  
"We're doing the best we can! Sheesh!" Ayumi sighed deeply and exited the small room. She was followed closely by Yoma and Yasuo and Kouichi behind. The two guards (who were in fact wearing long robes and had no visible weapons) were walking beside them.

"Where are we going again?" asked J.P., while they were stepping outside in the strong sunlight.  
"To meet the four Queens." Shortly responded Ayumi. Yoma stumbled and nearly fell, but Yasuo caught her elbow.  
"I thought you'd have a similar reaction." He said calmly and the girl let out a small squeak.  
"I'm sure it's not… necessary." She whispered.  
"The Fire Queen is very eager to meet you. Get in!" Yasuo pointed to a small carriage.  
"Fleriss, damn her…" Yoma muttered under hear breath.  
"The Air Controller is interested in you too." Ayumi smiled towards J.P. and Kouichi, who only exchanged looks.

"Whoa… it's huge!" J.P.'s neck started hurting as he tried to see everything around him.  
Kouichi nodded, his mouth opened in awe.  
They had just entered something that looked a lot like a coliseum, except it didn't look all that old. The noise was telling them it was full of people.  
Lythic, Yasuo's father who had joined them on the way, was walking at the front, leading them towards three thrones and something that looked like a small pool. One of the thrones was empty. It looked a little dusty, too, compared to the other shining ones.  
Kouichi and J.P. stared at the sitting creatures, and at the one in the small round pool.  
The tallest one, who was sitting at the throne in the middle, stood up.

_TO BE CONTINUED..._

---------

**I hope no one was too confused :D **

**I'll try next time to update more... quickly ^ ^''' **

**thanks for reading, again, please R&R :3**


	21. Chapter 21

21. The four Queens (pt2) and The Rescuers

[Therra and its fights]

_Kouichi and J.P. stared at the sitting creatures, and at the one in the small round pool. _

_The tallest one, who was sitting at the throne in the middle, stood up. _

She looked like… well, an alien woman, but beautiful. Her skin was light blue and she had dark blue tattoos all over her body, which was covered by a long white dress. Her long purple hair was brushing lightly the white marble floor.

Her smile somehow reminded Kouichi of something… or someone…

"Welcome, Earthlings." She greeted them with a strong tone, which hinted she was happy to help anytime for anything… unless you make her angry.

_'Ophanimon…! Her voice__ and smile are a lot like Ophanimon's!'_ remembered J.P.

Yasuo, Ayumi and Lythic bowed lightly. Receiving a fierce glance from the white-haired boy, J.P. and Kouichi did the same.

Only Yoma kept standing still, not moving a muscle.

"My name is Vindera, and I am of the Four Queens. These are Fleriss," a tall woman with orange skin and wild fire-like hair narrowed her eyes, nodding with light annoyance "and Aquamarine, my two sisters." Another woman-like, blue creature, which reminded of a mermaid, nodded shortly with a smile from the pool in the ground.

Somehow, Kouichi felt obligated to cough politely.

"…you… said **Four** Queens." he asked carefully. Ayumi jumped and nearly stepped on his foot.

Vindera smiled even wider and nodded.

"Hamadrya is the fourth." Her eyes fixed upon Yoma, which looked straight back without shame.

J.P. knit his eyebrows and looked at Yoma. This was getting way too complicated now… he looked at Kouichi questioningly, but only received a head shake and the same surprised expression.

"Stop hiding, Hamadrya." Vindera added, a little more roughly now.

Yoma's lips formed a little smile. Then something happened… no one was exactly sure what, but it looked like she split in two bodies, her eyes widening. The second figure formed a creature which looked a lot like Elfmon… or like the Mirits Bokomon had shown them.

The first figure coughed and tripped in her own legs. It seems like she wasn't used to walking or something of the sort. Kouichi caught her before she broke down on her knees.

She opened her eyes to reveal a deep green color. She coughed again.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" the 'woman', apparently Hamadrya, grinned. Fleriss jumped up

"You traitor." She hissed and turned to Vindera: "why did you allow her to come back here?!"

"Calm your spirit, Fleriss." The other one responded, and looked back down. "I'm not going to 'beat around the bush', Hamadrya. We left you at the Hall so you could think of what you've done. What you actually** did** was trying to make another world suffer… two worlds, to be precise."

Maybe it was just J.P.'s imagination, but it seemed like her voice was rising with every word.

Hamadrya shook her head in slight annoyance, like she was saying 'oh, please, not again.'

"I wasn't trying anything of that sort. I promise you, this wasn't my intension. Chaos just gives me a headache, and it was present in both those worlds." She shrugged.

Kouichi narrowed his eyes in anger.

Chaos…??

"We know very well what you've been doing!" Fleriss said in a strong, angry voice before Vindera could answer.

"KK…" whispered Yoma weakly."I don't mean to sound… stupid… but why do I have the feeling I'm not exactly supposed to be… you know… alive?"

"Don't ask me, I don't know what's going on…" Kouichi responded in a low tone. "Not that I mind." He added with a smile, winking.

*******************************************************************

_Takuya and Zoe exchanged worried looks. This didn't sound good. _

_"I think it's time we clear our business once and for all." Whispered Takuya, reaching for his pocket. Zoe nodded._

_In the house, the magical ropes faded away and Jesse stood up. _

_"Time to call the pros." He muttered to himself, quickly entering his room and sitting in front of the screen. _

*

"Pyro Darts!"

A man in dark clothing dodged, while his companion sent a fountain of water towards Agunimon from behind his back. Kazemon pushed him to the side in the last moment and they both fell.

"Wha-… I could've pushed it away myself...!"

"You welcome!" she snorted and stood up "step aside! Hurricane wave!" she sent the tornadoes towards the third magician, who murmured something under his breath and the tornadoes died quickly.

"Those guys… are really… powerful!" Zoe spoke through teeth, as she was trying to defend herself from a sudden sandstorm sent at her.

"…for once I'll have to agree on that… no wonder Jesse was so… afraid of them!" Agunimon managed somehow to get them out of the storm, which eventually died, crashing into a building.

"That's not good... fighting here is dangerous!" Kazemon shouted. "People might get hurt!"

She was expecting a crowd of panicked people to run out of the falling building, but it didn't happen. It just broke down with a loud crash, but no one came out. No one even checked from what's happening neighbor buildings and houses.

"What... is...?" she started with a whisper, but a blow hit her. Apparently, Agunimon was busy with two new magicians that had shown up, and Kazemon had just forgotten her enemies, amazed by the 'no-reaction' to all the mess.

It was a huge ball made of fire and water at the same time. How could that be possible, she didn't even stop to think.

Kazemon got swept to the side and was shoved into a tree. She cried with pain and fell, de-evolving.

Agunimon had managed to bring down three magicians (using mostly surprise attacks), but looked too exhausted after about a half-an-hour of dodging and attacking.

Two of the men were left, and they didn't seem like giving up either.

"seems like you kids are into some trouble there, heh?"

A voice right behind Agunimon said. He turned around. From one of the ruined buildings (just now he noticed all the damages the fight had caused) was walking out a man, holding up whet seemed like a flame-thrower a part of which was against his shoulder. The man looked like he hadn't shaved in a long time, although his eyes were sparkling wildly. His clothes were surprisingly clean for his entire image, but the buttons of his shirt were half-undone.

Tired and worn out, Agunimon de-evolved, and Takuya, a bit dizzy, ran to help Zoe stand up. They were both wondering if this man was on their side or not. The man made them a sign to approach, but Takuya's grip around Zoe's shoulder tightened and he shook his head.

*********************************************

"She's a spirit." Vindera said shortly, and then turned her attention back to Hamadrya, watching her closely.

Kouichi and Yoma exchanged looks.

"Not again..." the girl groaned.

"And eyes!! You got eyes!! How dare you-..."

"Fleriss!" Vindera raised her hand. "Enough."

The Fire Queen hissed something and sat heavily.

"I think," Started Aquamarine, raising her body with her hands against the cold floor, "we should hear her out. I would like to believe our sister has a reasonable explanation for her actions."

If the water Queen had eyes, they'd probably have been full of expectation. She was clearly trying to avoid any unnecessary fights.

Kouichi felt bits of thankfulness towards her.

"Alright. We are listening, Hamadrya." Vindera's expression became a bit softer.

"Wow, you're willing to hear me out? That's something quite new!" the former-Earth-ruler exclaimed with an overreacted surprise. "Then again, I'm sure you already have your own theory and you agree to listen only because that's the polite thing to do... ya'll remind me a lot of those from the Digital world. Did you know that they think **they** created the hall of mirrors? Or, at least, that's what they keep telling themselves and all the rest. Everyone on highest positions think they know best, that's something I should've realized some time ago... but, hope dies last, so... I just decided to keep going to the next world. As for the girl... this was an accident." Hamadrya finished with a shrug. Silence followed, even the crowd in the arena had stopped talking and shouting.

"Created the hall, you say..." murmured Aquamarine thoughtfully.

"Nasty creatures, they think they know more than any other... "Hissed Fleriss, looking angrier than ever.

"Like... you're any different...!" Yoma slowly shook herself from Kouichi's grip and looked towards Vindera. Her expression showed pure hatred. The girl stepped closer to Hamadrya and wrapped her fingers around her elbow, supporting herself.

---

TO BE CONTINUED


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: well, here it is, another chapter you were (hopefully) waiting for~

sorry for the late, guys! it was written... last month... but, eh, yeah, I sort of forgot to upload it heh-heh ^ ^'''

anyway, please enjoy, and I'd really love it if you review as well ^w^

----

22. Therra and its fights pt2

[Underground army]

_"I forgot to introduce myself. Jared Amaryllis, Jetsuo's father, and leader of the movement against them magicians."  
He winked at the two kids._

"Aw, don't they look cute?" Jared looked at the reflections of the sleeping Takuya and Zoe on his rearview mirror.

Jesse shook his head. "Dad... "

_"__Amaryllis, where're you, man?"_ a voice said from what seemed to be a small cellphone connected to the radio of the yellow pickup truck.

"Jesse, could you..."

The boy nodded and pushed a small button on the side of device.

"We're just on our way out of Tokihota." Jared said, taking a left turn.

_"__Be careful, Jare: they've increased the guard on the Western Gate... and all the way to Point. It's hard to pass."_

"Not again!" in an outburst, the man hit the breaks. Jesse threw a worried look at him, then at the back seats, where the two other kids were still sleeping.

_"Yeah, they seem to have gotten suspicious again..." _the voice paused. _"...you can pass by the fields, though."_

"The ride will be about an hour longer!" Jared exclaimed and then sighed, lighting the engine again. "Tell everyone I'll be there around 7pm."

_"__Right." _

Jesse pulled his hand back from the button and leaned back.

"Dad, we're going to get in trouble for this. You know the Ms did that because of the fight." The boy closed his eyes.

"Jetsuo, how many times do I have to repeat, do not call them that! It's... that's how they control people!"

"But there's a taboo on-"

"I won't let my **son** be lead by such foolish things!"

"Calm down, Dad. I won't do that again." Jesse twisted into a more comfortable position on his seat and yawned.

Soon his breaths got calmer and he murmured something under his breath.

Jared smiled to himself and messed up the boy's hair.

_'__Pearl... you would be proud of him.'_

"Wake up, kids!"

"Where are we?" murmured Takuya through a yawn.

"Near Point." Responded Jared simply and stopped the engine.

"Near what...?" Takuya looked around.

It was already dark, but he could see shapes of buildings in the distance.

"Point," Jesse lit up a flashlight in their faces. "Point city."

"Oh..."

"What **time** is it?" Zoe looked around.

"6:30, hopefully. Come on" Jared stepped out of the car and his son jumped out after him.

"**Hopefully**?" Takuya helped Zoe to the ground and followed the two towards what seemed to be an old hut in a field.

"My watch is broken, and we can't tell for sure by the sky, as you can see." Jared laughed bitterly and pulled out a key.

He unlocked the door of the hut and stepped aside. Jesse turned off the flashlight.

Jesse, Takuya and Zoe went in silently. The man looked around in the night, closed the door and locked it again.

His son was leading the newcomers towards an opening in the floor. He knocked on it a few times and it opened.

"Double J?" asked a voice.

"You know it's us, Tadao." Jared passed by Jesse and disappeared down into the darkness.

"One can't be too careful these days..." the voice justified itself."Hurry, you lot!" it continued as Takuya made way for Zoe to enter first.

"...double J...?" muttered Takuya under his breath.

When they were all down and the door - now in the ceiling - was closed, someone turned on the lights and Zoe looked around nervously.

It revealed to be a long, well-built hallway. The five were standing at the very end of it. The floor, ceiling and walls were metal, and quite clean.

Takuya was examining the owner of the voice. He had brown wild hair and eyes in a darker shade of brown. He nodded slightly.

That man, Tadao, reminded Takuya of someone... if he could only remember **who**...

"This way," Jared made his way down the hallway and around the second corner. He opened a door to his left and stepped aside.

"Welcome to my underground army." He winked at the newcomers. Zoe blinked, a bit scared, and held onto Takuya's sleeve. They stepped in.

A huge hall raveled itself before them. They were standing at the very top of stairs, leading down towards what seemed to be a complicated system of offices, computers and people. Most of them weren't doing much, but some seemed to be deeply concentrated in their work - be it on paper or on the screen.

A blonde woman with pale skin, who was by her desk near the bottom of the stairs, looked up.

"Well, well, if it isn't double J!" she stood up.

"Hi, Zora." Jesse smiled, walking down the stairs. "Tadao's guarding the door tonight?"

"Yeah." The woman sighed. "Everyone's turn comes sometime."

"How's everything going?" asked Jared. He poked Takuya lightly in order to make him move.

"Pretty calm. Many are starting to complain... they say they're bored." Zora said.

"Well, tell them that if they want to help out cleaning the mess in Tokihota, they're welcome to do so."

"What mess?" the woman raised an eyebrow. "Jared, were you acting irresponsibly again?!"

"This time it wasn't me. It was them." Jared pushed Takuya and Zoe forward. They looked up at the dazed woman.

"Well, what do you know..." she examined them. "Are you from Lalent?"

"**No**." Takuya responded firmly. "**Earth**. Our planet is called **Earth**. Got that? Want me spell it out for you?"

"T-Takuya!" Zoe shrieked and pulled his hand. "Calm down!"

"No! I've had enough! **First** we end up in a telephone cabin smaller than my own desk, then the police let us go because the father of **some boy** has connections, then we're told to feel at home, after which we get attacked by a vicious bunch of darned **Magicians**, and now we're dragged into an underground labyrinth of offices! and I want to know **why!**"

Takuya realized everyone was silent. The entire hall was listening to him now. A few people were peeking from behind the computer screens in awe. A few were giggling.

Jesse slapped his forehead and sighed. Jared seemed to be in a deep thought.

"We just want to find the rest of our group and go home." Takuya added tiredly.

No one spoke.

"He's right about that last one..." Zoe said lowly and gulped.

"He's right about everything. You both have the right to know what's happening." Jared smiled nervously. "I really want to explain everything. But I assumed you'd want to take a shower and eat something first. The day's been long for everyone."

"When you mention that, **I'd** like to take a shower." Zoe smiled and let go of her companion. "Come to think of it, you need one too." She turned to look at Takuya.

"We don't have **time** for that!" the boy exclaimed angrily.

"So what do you plan to do, Takuya?! We're both covered in dirt and dust; we can't walk around like this!" the girl's voice rose to shout.

"**When they send us back**," Takuya threw a furious glance at Jesse, "you'll have **plenty** of time for that!"

Zoe bit her lip.

"I want to go home as much as you do, Takuya." She finally whispered. "But why do you insist on making everything hard on everyone all the time? It's always about the fights and the fire and the enemies with you. For once, **calm down**."

She was breathing heavily.

Everyone was expecting another outburst from Takuya, but none came.

"Alright... let's do it another way. Zorà, show the girl where can she change clothes and take a bath. Takuya, walk with me," Jared wrapped his hand around the boy's shoulders.

"Hey, what about me?!" Jesse called.

"Keep track of the events!"

"Tch. Keep track of the events... a **fish** can do that." murmured the boy under his breath.

"Hey, double J, your school's been closed down." A man called from behind his screen.

"What, why?!" Jesse went over to him

"Come on," the blonde woman made a sign to Zoe.

"Hey, what's 'double J'?" asked the girl in confusion, mostly to keep a conversation.

"J Junior... since both his and his father's names start with that letter." Zora laughed at Zoe's raised eyebrows. "Tadao came up with it a long time ago, and it just stuck."

As they walked down a corridor, they were both silent. Zora was following the girl's expression carefully.

"You know," she finally said. "You and... Takuya, right? Remind me a lot of Tadao and myself when we were your age. Him being a hothead, me trying to pour some reason into his head." She laughed. "When I think of it, you look a lot like us, too." She thought for a few moments.

-

"Alternate universes." Said Jared, showing Takuya some sort of diagram. "it's simple. Two places that look the same go on different 'paths'. Let's take Earth and Therra for example... at your planet, in your universe, the one big continent eventually split. Here, on the other side..."

"it didn't." Takuya's eyes widened as he stared at a diagram of a spinning globe. It had one large continent and one island.

"As you can see, it all still evolved and there are humans. We don't have any animals here, though." Jared added with a sigh.

"What?!" Takuya exclaimed.

"They're all on the islands beyond the barrier... this is the barrier." The man pushed a small button and on the screen appeared a line which circled the one continent and the large island next to it. Outside the line, a few small pieces got highlighted.

"Everyone in this barrier has generated IDs - information imprinted on your hand or neck. It helps the magicians detect you at any time. No one knows if there is civilization on those islands. The Magicians don't let us go there... the border is purely magical. It's just like a large, strong bubble around us. "

"Why?" Takuya knit his eyebrows and tried to count the small islands outside the barrier.

"Because they cannot control too many people at the same time. The Magicians aren't as many as most people think..."

"No, I mean... why are they even... what's the deal with them?" Takuya looked at the man. "Why were they after **us**?!"

"They don't want anyone on Therra to find out there are portals to other universes out there."

"**why**?!"

"it's **obvious**, Takuya!" Jared stood up and started walking back in forth in his small office. "If people find out there is a better place, they would want to **go** there. And the Magicians won't have anyone to control, they won't have anyone to... guide!"

"...well, what if it's not a better place...?" the boy raised an eyebrow.

"**Any place** is better than here! We're not allowed to see animals, travel, go out the barrier, carry gold and silver...!" Jared was waving his hands enthusiastically.

"**What**?!"

"Oh, yes, gold and silver - it hurts them, the Magicians can't stand it."

"But the money Jesse asked for...?"

"That's just tradition." Jared made a gesture as if waving off the question, "The goldens aren't really made of gold. It's metal, alright, but not gold."

Takuya pinned his eyes in Jared's back.

The man was standing with his face towards the small cube offices of the people below - his own was next to entrance, on the top of the stairs.

"...and... you're here... you and all these people... to...?" the boy felt as if starting to lose ground under his feet. Sure, he - more or less - understood what he was told, but all that talk about no trespassing the barrier...

"We're here because people need to know there are other universes out there." Jared answered, looking at him over his shoulder. "It's their **right** to move to another place if they want to. After all, **we don't even have** those..." he went to the table and looked at a few papers. "Those..." he approached a paper to his face and read it carefully "time-zo-ne-s." he looked up, beaming.

Takuya nearly fell over.

-

"**Excuse me?!**"

"Yes, them Magicians told us _'if the sun rises earlier where you live, that's not our problem.'_ Basically, our clock is set to them." Zora rolled up her eyes. "It's really frustrating sometimes."

"Don't people get confused?!" Zoe cried.

"That's what I'm saying - it's really angering sometimes. Here," she added, opening a door towards a large clean dressing room. "The door on the other end is the bathroom. I'll get you clean clothes while you're taking a shower."

"Thank you." Zoe smiled weakly.

-

Takuya leaned back and closed his eyes.

"Magicians don't like the idea of people escaping them, you try to fight them off and you're in love with the idea of time zones. I got that. How do you send us home?" his eyes opened sharply.

"Oh, about that..." Jared suddenly became a bit nervous. "See, we sort of... we were hoping we could delay that for a while..."

"What?!" the boy jumped up, knocking back the chair.

"We need your help!" the Jared cried, spreading his hands to the sides. "For weeks we've been trying to get someone out of Lalent to help us, but they're just too selfish and say it's our problem."

"Well it is!" Takuya spit. "it's not our fault we landed here!! Why should we help you?!"

"**We** helped **you**."

"Just because you wanted us to fight for your sake! Is that why you went through everything?!" Takuya shouted.

"See now, it won't be anything complicated, just... we just need to get to the Magician's Tower and cut it all from the source! And your power is... amazing! We can put such good use to it!" Jared was starting to get excited again.

"We're not dolls!" Takuya cried desperately. He sat on the edge of the fallen chair. "We just ended up here wanting to help **our own** world and now... Damn!!" he shouted to the world in general.

Before Jared could respond, a voice called for him from a small phone on his desk.

_"Jay, another one's coming through!" _

The man jumped and grabbed the phone receiver, "someone's coming through the portal?!"

_'__Yes! And it seems like they're landing pretty close by!'_

Jared stormed out of his office and ran to the offices below. Takuya, who's anger had cleared out a bit, followed him.

"Alright everyone! Someone's traveling through the portals again! Get everything into place and make sure this person gets **here**, in this building--"

"Building...?" whispered Takuya.

"--not like **last time**!"

A huge wave of excitement passed through the people behind the screens and everyone suddenly became a lot more alert. Various men and women were running back and forth, shouting orders.

"We have a special portal of our own." Jared explained. "Instead of searching all over the place, we decided it would be easier to make the 'incoming person' land in a special... room, let's call it." he grinned. "**Now** we'll see if it really works."

Takuya stared at a nearby screen in awe. It was showing the inside of a room with rounded walls.

Energy seemed to be collecting itself in the middle of it. It was slowly forming a figure.

A rather _familiar _figure...

TO BE CONTINUED

---

A/N: MYSTERIOUS (hopefully) PERSON? who can it be?!

you'll probably have to wait 'til 24 to find out ;p taking on Lalent next time. (eh, yeah, s-sorry if it's annoying ^ ^''' )

thank you very much for reading so far, once agian, I'd love feedback~~


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: oh dear. this chapter has been written for a while, but I had forgotten to upload it! please forgive me!**

**as usual, more talking than descriptions, but I hope you don't mind. that's just my 'style'!**

23. The four Queens (pt3)

[Partial reunion]

_"Nasty creatures, they think they know more than any other... "Hissed Fleriss, looking angrier than ever._

_"Like... you're any different...!" Yoma slowly shook herself from Kouichi's grip and looked towards Vindera. Her expression showed pure hatred. The girl stepped closer to Hamadrya and wrapped her fingers around her elbow, supporting herself._

"You're just like them, if not worse!" the girl shouted. "Hamadrya is right; everyone... everyone who has power thinks they're authorized to... decide everyone else's future...! it was the same with the Warriors... Takuya and the rest. You... you think that... just because you're called 'Queens' you can judge everyone else, destroy and create...! I know the story..." Yoma panted. "You banished her... just like that."

"Foolish girl!" Fleriss jumped up again. "Hamadrya could not control her own underlings! They started attacking people!"

"Maybe they got angry!" Yoma shouted. Then coughed and her grip around Hamadrya's elbow tightened. The former Earth Queen was standing still, listening carefully, her eyes pinned somewhere ahead.

"That **is** true. They did, because people on their island had started... hurting plants." Vindera said calmly. "But this was our sister's problem."

"And she dared to... use her power to... create eyes for herself!" Fleriss shouted again.

"And what's bad about that, I ask of you?" Hamadrya sharply looked up at Fleriss. "Wanting to see the flowers and the forests?"

"That's true." Aquamarine whispered.

"And how **dare** you say it was my problem? You call yourselves_ Queens_ as well, don't you? Cutting off trees is something I highly disapprove of and you know it." Hamadrya's eyes narrowed. "it wasn't only happening on my island." She added.

Silence followed.

Fleriss seemed too angry to speak, and the other two Queens were measuring the situation.

"Still," Vindera finally spoke. "We cannot allow you to keep moving about freely. It's not only here you - and your Mirits - have been causing mischief."

"Ha!" Hamadrya snickered. "You close a whole bunch of creatures in the Hall of Mirrors, sealed away, and you don't expect them to get angry?"

"Anyone would go insane there." Yoma whispered.

"Agh..." suddenly, Yasuo put a hand over his forehead.

"What's wrong?" whispered Ayumi worriedly.

"The Gates..." Yasuo murmured. "This isn't right!"

"Newcomers," Vindera announced. JP looked up at her with hope. Kouichi's gaze was pinned at Yoma's back. "You will remain here until the Gate re-opens, and we will be able to send you back to you home."

JP smiled widely, holding back the urge to jump up and shout _'yes! Finally!'_.

"Hamadrya will remain in Lalent."

"That's even better!" JP whispered with excitement.

"...her imprisoning was something we should have paid much more attention to at a time." The Air Queen finished.

"Wait, hold on." Yoma stepped forward, "you're going to seal-... her off somewhere **here**?"

"Indeed." Aquamarine's smile was hinting for an apology. "That's clearly the best solution."

"And you're going to-... send us home?" Yoma checked. "Even me?"

"I cannot see why not." Vindera exchanged looks with Fleriss, who simply shrugged, sitting back on the throne.

"No." Yoma turned to look at Kouichi, flashing him a sad smile. "You'll leave, but I'll stay here."

"Wh-..." Kouichi's eyes widened. "You can't do that!"

"Oh, great." JP's shoulders fell. _Here it goes again...!_

Yasuo was taking in breaths harder and harder. Ayumi was supporting him, quite worried.

"damnit...!" he hissed, then looked up. "Your Majesty Vindera, may I be excused? There is something wrong with the Gates."

"Go," The Air Queen nodded, her eyes scanning Yoma with slight interest.

Yasuo bowed slightly and, still groaning, rushed to the exit. His father, Lythic, thought for a moment and hurried after him, whispering to Ayumi to stay behind.

"I will not leave." Yoma said firmly. "I won't-... leave her. If you want to imprison her, then fine, but I'll take the-... fall as well." She was talking in a strange matter - as if speech has suddenly become harder for her.

"Girl, don't be ridiculous." Hamadrya glanced at her.

"I don't care if-... you've tried to hurt-..." Yoma stopped. "I'm not leaving you here-... just like that."

"Oh?"

"because this is the easiest thing, isn't it?_'Finally, she's gone and I can get rid of her'?_ No. I'm not-... that kind of person. At least... I don't want to be." the girl looked at the ground.

"Yo-... Yoma..." whispered Kouichi.

Hamadrya sighed.

"It seems as if I haven't really done a good job on you after all... you can't scale the things that matter." She shook her head.

"Isn't it correct our sister had caused you suffering as well?" Aquamarine asked carefully.

"That's true. But-... I owe her far more than you can imagine."

"For heaven's sakes, she **killed** you!" exclaimed JP before he could stop himself.

"But she made me stronger. She made me stand up to things I don't like. And... I met you guys thanks to her." Yoma smiled slightly. "Right?"

"I guess..." Kouichi murmured. "But, still... you have the chance to go back, why-..."

"What can I go back to? I'm-... practically dead, aren't I? It-... would be a bit weird, wouldn't it?" Yoma whispered and laughed bitterly. She fixed her eyes on Hamadrya. "I won't-... leave you here."

"Stupid girl." The woman responded with a sigh.

Up on their thrones, the Air and Fire queens exchanged looks. Aquamarine was silent and thoughtful.

"Don't-... start again with your _'we don't went to imprison innocent humans'_." Yoma added sharply. "It's under-... no consideration." She was taking in fast, shallow breaths.

"But Yo-..."

"I said-... it's **under no consideration**, Kouichi. JP."

"Why are you always so stubborn?!" Kouichi suddenly yelled. "Honestly, I want to know! You're always trying to-..."

"Your Majesty Vindera!" a tall thin man with quite long legs came in, running. "There's a message from Master Lythic!" he stood next to Ayumi, panting.

Vindera snapped her fingers and swirling creature swam out of thin air next to her. It flew towards the man and took from him a small scroll, taking it back to the Air Queen.

She read it carefully.

"It seems like things are getting more and more interesting." She handed over the note to Fleriss. "It appears that someone has come through the Gates again, even though that's not really... possible."

"Someone who looks a lot like that boy with the black hair," Fleriss added without much interest, finishing the note. It burst to flames with a snap of her finger.

"He must have come through the Hall of Mirrors." Aquamarine said.

"A lot like Kouichi...?" JP stared at his friend.

"Kouji Minamoto, was it?" Hamadrya murmured. Yoma nodded in response.

"Must be." Kouichi sighed deeply. _It's not that I won't be happy to see him_, he thought, _but this is bond to turn into a big ugly mess..._

"I believe you would like to greet him." Vindera's look was jumping from Kouichi to JP.

"Er..." the chubby started. "yes." _and I wanna get out of here, too!_

Vindera nodded shortly.

"You two may be escorted to the Gates. Our sister will remain here... with the girl, if she really must stay."

Yoma seemed a little relieved.

"Wait, we're not done!" Kouichi exclaimed. "Is there any way to free Hamadrya of all... charges or whatever?" he stepped forward in determination.

"Of course not." Fleriss responded sharply.

"What if she tells all the Mirits to stop messing about in Lalent?" Kouichi was overfilled with hope that his plan would work. "...and the Digital World?"

The Fire Queen opened her mouth to argue. And then stopped.

_Let it work_, thought Kouichi._ please_ _let her go; please don't make her stay..._

_"That's what I'm saying - it's really angering sometimes. Here," she added, opening a door towards a large clean dressing room. "The door on the other end is the bathroom. I'll get you clean clothes while you're taking a shower." _

_"Thank you." Zoe smiled weakly._

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_"We have a special portal of our own." Jared explained. "Instead of searching all over the place, we decided it would be easier to make the 'incoming person' land in a special... room, let's call it." he grinned. "__**Now**__ we'll see if it really works."_

_Takuya stared at a nearby screen in awe. It was showing the inside of a room with round walls. _

_Energy seemed to be collecting itself in the middle of it. It was slowly forming a figure._

_A rather familiar figure... _

"That's Tommy!!" The boy let out a short, somehow terrified, laughter.

"You know him, then?!" Jared stared at them with wide eyes, then back at the screen where Tommy was fighting to stand up.

"He's a good friend..." Takuya gulped.

_He must've come through that hall of mirrors... aw man, what a mess!! _

"You know, I've never seen dad so happy before." Jesse approached him, staring at his father dancing around and giving orders in a cheerful tone.

"What's happening here?" a voice said behind them. Tadao was walking away from the stairs, looking around at all the excited people.

"Tadao!" Jared exclaimed, rushing towards him. "Such a pity you missed it! it was amazing!!"

"The portal worked." Jesse explained with a smile.

"Eh?! Why didn't anyone call me?!?"

"Hey, isn't anyone going to get him...?" Takuya pointed at Tommy's image. The boy had stood up and he was clearly looking for a way out.

"Oh." Jared thought for a moment. "Why don't **you** go? Zora, show him the way!"

"Sure, boss. Come on," she gave him a sign to follow her.

"Wait, shouldn't at least Zoe get here? What's taking her so long, anyway?!" Takuya looked around in slight annoyance.

"I'm here, I'm here!" the girl suddenly came, rushing forward. Her hair was still a bit wet. "This guy told me what happened. Come on!" she pulled Takuya towards the way Zora was heading.

-------------------------------------

[FLASHBACK]

_"I feel bad for her." Tommy looked at the ground and knit his eyebrows. "She's not all that bad. She's just… as confused as us, I guess…" _

_"And that Elfmon's messing with her head!" hissed Kouji, closing his fists. _

"Yeah..."

Short silence.

"Tommy, I think we should quit sitting around and doing nothing." Kouji announced, standing up. "We have to find the others."

"But... how?"

Kouji glanced at the mirrors around them thoughtfully. Strangely enough, they weren't reflecting any of the boys.

"Where is Kouichi Kimura?" he said as loudly as he could. "Show me the place he's in!"

"What are you-- whoa!"

The mirror, at which Kouji was currently staring, showed an image.

It was of many fields, then a hue arena, and Kouichi himself, shouting something. Kouji and Tommy also caught a glimpse of JP, and Yoma and a woman that looked an awful lot like Elfmon.

"How about Takuya Kanbara?" Tommy asked, figuring out how this place worked.

One continent, cities, a huge hall with many offices...

And there he was, talking to a tall man with black curls. The two were standing in a small stuffed office. The man seemed to be explaining something to the rather annoyed Takuya.

"What about Zoe?" Tommy and Kouji exchanged worried looks.

The mirror showed the same office-filled place, then a corridor, and a changing room and--

"Alright, stop!" Kouji demanded, feeling his face turning hot. The mirror blackened.

"It's weird." Tommy, also a bit red on the cheeks, wondered. "How come these... **things** listen to us?"

"Who cares?? We have to get to those places!"

"**How**, Kouji?"

"Through the mirrors, of course." Kouji stood with determination with his face towards the glass surface. "I suggest we go different ways. I'll head for that arena, you go to that... place with many cities."

"Right..." Tommy slowly moved in front of another mirror.

"How would that work... ehhh..." Kouji cleared his throat. "To where my brother is?"

The mirror glowed softly, but showed nothing.

"To Takuya and Zoe." Tommy's mirror also gave out the same soft yellow-white glow.

"Let's go. Good luck."

"You too."

The boys exchanged looks and stepped forward, taking a deep breath.

[END FLASHBACK]

Tommy looked around in confusion and a bit of annoyance. Sure, he wasn't expecting to land right in front of someone he knows, but...

While he was traveling, he had felt like something suddenly grabbed him and threw him in another direction. It was so strange... maybe someone - something - changed his course? Where **was** he, then?

He was sitting in a white room with round walls. The light made it hard to tell how big this room was.

Tommy tried to stand up, but some sort of yellow-greenish energy was holding him down. It faded away slowly, though, and the boy finally managed to stand up properly.

He was searching for an exit, but everything was so bright that Tommy had to narrow his eyes. If there was a door, it was sure well-hidden...

"Tommy!!" a voice came from right behind him and he turned to look.

"Zo-" before he could finish a small tornado of hair and hands nearly knocked him down.

"Tommy!!" Zoe had hugged him tightly. "I'm so happy to see you!!"

"e-eh... Z-Zoe..."

"You're choking him." Takuya laughed. The girl finally let the youngest boy go and stepped aside, sweeping tears from her eyes.

"Sorry, it's just that... so much time we haven't seen a familiar face and..." she sniffed.

"You okay, Tommy?" Takuya examined him carefully.

"Yeah, I'm... I'm fine." he smiled slightly. "I see you're doing well."

"Well, we had a couple of fights, but we're fi--"

"So you are Tommy!? I'm **so** glad to meet you! Jared Amaryllis!" the same man who Tommy saw talking to Takuya earlier swooped in and shook Tommy's hand energetically.

"e-eh..." Tommy glanced at Takuya for backup.

The boy who had his goggles hanging around his neck only shrugged, an amused smile on his face.

"You **must** tell me how you got here!!" Jared kept talking, his face beaming. Tommy started losing sense in his fingers from all the shaking.

"Dad, you're going to make him faint like that what with all the talking." a boy around Tommy's age rolled up his eyes. "I'm Jesse, by the way." He responded to Tommy's questioning gaze.

Fifteen minutes later Tommy was sitting in Jared's office, getting questioned. Jared himself had gone off somewhere and left the three kids to catch up.

"Wait, you and Kouji saw **Yoma** somewhere?" Takuya blinked at his young friend.

"In some other world, yeah... where Kouji went."

"I don't get it..." Zoe was examining her hands, her eyebrows knit.

"This is not possible." Takuya kept muttering to himself. "No offence, but the girl's **dead**!"

"I think she's some sort of spirit." Tommy seemed just as clueless. "You remember how Kouichi was back when we met him?"

"Probably, but... Kouichi was still alive in the Real World then!" Takuya frowned.

"What matters now is that we have to get to them somehow." Zoe said firmly.

"that Jared guy won't let us leave!!" Takuya half-yelled. "He says he wants us to **help** him!"

"With what?!" Tommy stared at his teammates with wide eyes. "Listen, I **still** don't know what **you** have been doing all this time!!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kouji blinked.

He was lying in a room with high walls, covered in what seemed to be plants. Kouji made a few steps forward and nearly went through a glass wall.

He rubbed his nose, cursing, and looked for an exit.

"Hey, you, step aside from the barrier."

In the other half of the room a boy was stepping forward. He had wild white hair and sparkling blue eyes, narrowed in annoyance. His face and hands were covered in blue tattoos, nearly invisible against his pale skin.

A tall man with the same blue eyes and similar markings was following him. He muttered something and Kouji thought he heard a low _'kreeek._'

"Come on!" the boy gave him a sign to approach.

Kouji didn't like being bossed around like this - and by someone who seemed younger than him - but decided it was best not to argue. He was surprised to find out the glass wall had gone.

"Faster, human!"

"Yasuo," The boy's companion warned him harshly. "Behave."

The boy - Yasuo? - let out a small snort and something about _'with a human?'_, but didn't say anything louder except "yes, father."

"My name is Lythic Kohara, and I'll ask you to follow us, newcomer." The man bowed slightly and turned towards the door.

Kouji, still not knowing what question to begin with, was led to a large corridor, much better lit. It had many columns and what Kouji at first thought were plants were nothing but ornaments.

He noticed many people staring at him with awe and frustration - like he had done something wrong. Many of them were wearing long white robes.

"Where are you taking me?" Kouji finally spit out, a bit more rudely than he had intended.

"Out of the Gates' temple." Yasuo answered scornfully. "Energy's been strange lately, and who knows what could happen, you might get transported away."

"Transported away...?" Kouji whispered under his breath. _What the hell?_

Kouji felt quite uneasy by the way Yasuo was looking at him from time to time - like he was something nasty and low.

Luckily, soon they were outside - as much as a closed garden could be called 'outside' - and Kouji's jaw nearly fell. He had never seen so many plants and birds. Some of them were kinds he couldn't even imagine.

Large colorful feathers and leafs were covering the ground below him and he had to concentrate in order to keep his mind straight - the scent was making him feel a bit dizzy.

"Yasuo, send a message to Their Majesties. Tell them the boy looks like Mr. Kimura. We will wait here." Lythic nodded towards a bench in the sun.

Yasuo nodded shortly and, throwing a last hateful glance at Kouji, hurried around the next corner to find a good messenger.

"You have to forgive my son's behavior." The man sat heavily and gave Kouji a sign to do the same. "He's not very fond of humans."

Kouji noticed two guards joining them in a flash, standing still by the two ends of the bench.

"What is **he**, then?" Kouji asked, before being able to stop himself. He clinched his teeth together, expecting an angry response.

Instead, Lythic just laughed.

"We are Elementalists, Kouji." he flashed an amused eye at the boy beside him. "Your brother told me your name," the man added.

"Oh... he's here, then. Good." Kouji stared at his knees. "Elementalists, huh" he murmured to himself.

"We look like humans, but have the ability to control elements." Lythic explained calmly. "A long time ago Yasuo's mother was sent to your world with a task. She did not come back. I'm afraid since then my son has been living under the impression that humans are... not _trustworthy_." The man chose the words carefully. "And he's a Gate keeper, so he's had the chance to... watch humans. Some say your kind is weak."

Kouji said nothing. His thoughts kept racing back to the Hall of Mirrors and Yoma. She was here for sure, but _how_? And what was that arena he and Tommy saw?

"The Four Queens would probably like to meet you, Kouji." Lythic looked up at the glass far above separating then from the sky.

"So** these** are the creatures we saw in that mirror...! are they Mirits?" Kouji was doing his best to keep a polite tone. He didn't know how high the position of this man was...

"The most powerful ones, yes."

Another silence followed.

"Father," Yasuo reappeared. "I've sent the message, but I don't have a replay yet. Should we go straight to the Queens?"

"I don't believe this to be a good idea. Let us get a response first." Lythic responded.

"What if she tells all the Mirits to stop messing about in Lalent?" Kouichi was overfilled with hope that his plan would work. "...and the Digital World?"

The Fire Queen opened her mouth to argue. And then stopped.

_Let it work_, thought Kouichi._ Please_ _let her go; please don't make her stay..._

"Stop the Earth Mirits." Aquamarine repeated after him quietly.

"Yeah, she's their queen after all!!" J.P. joined in with excitement.

"Foolish boy," Hamadrya hissed. "They've scattered across many worlds. Do you really think it's that **easy**?!"

"The Hall of Mirrors if often used to contact many universes at once." Vindera remarked.

Yoma glanced up at her.

--------------------------------------------------

**A/N: once again, thank you for the patience and for reading!**

**ch24 is started, but was started 2 months ago :D I will finish it whenever I get inspiration or the itch to write - I hope it will be soon!**

**thank you for all the new reviews, and for all the reads~ take care! ~~Nico**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: first of all, I would like to apologize for the super-super long wait! I was lacking inspiration or just forgetting and... in the end, I decided to submit what I have ready. was supposed to be longer, but I felt guilty enough as it is~!**

**I'll try not to make ch25 take so long, really really! *cries***

**hope you forgive me and... enjoy~.**

---

24. The battle for Therra pt. 1

[To call back the spirits]

_"__That Jared guy won't let us leave!!" Takuya half-yelled. "He says he wants us to __**help**__ him!"_

_"With what?!" Tommy stared at his teammates with wide eyes. "Listen, I __**still**__ don't know what __**you**__ have been doing all this time!!" _

It only took Takuya and Zoe five minutes to explain the situation.

"…well, I think we **should** help." Tommy murmured after a bit of thought.

"What?!" Takuya exclaimed.

"You… we owe it. From what I understood, they helped you get away from the… Magicians and gave you shelter…" Tommy shrugged. "And hey, if my theory's correct, then the Jared dude threw me off my original course… who knows where I could have ended up."

"Yeah, but we never really asked for help!" Takuya went on. "And this is not **our** fight!"

"So you don't want to get back at the ones that attacked us?" Zoe asked him casually, twisting hair around her finger.

"That's not the point!" Takuya spread his hands to the sides. "As I told Jared before, they only helped us 'cos they wanna use us!!"

"I think Tommy's right, we should help." Zoe crossed her hands on her chest.

"I… oh, please… it's..." Takuya blabbered under his friends' heavy stares. "…oh, **fine**." He rolled up his eyes, "we'll **help**. We'll lend them our **power**." He made a face.

"Great!" Zoe clapped her hands together, smiling widely.

"But remember my word; this will not be the end of it! If it's not magicians, it will be something el—"

"What's up, kids?" the door opened to let Jared walk in with a wide step. "Tommy, did they explain everything?"

"Yes, sir." The boy nodded. "This place is quite fascinating." He added.

"Yeah, right." Muttered Takuya, frowning slightly.

"Excuse me?" Jared blinked at him, puzzled.

"I— ow!" Zoe had stepped on her boyfriend's foot and, smiling widely, she said:

"We've decided to help you, Mr. Amaryllis."

"w-…" the man was speechless for a few seconds, but when he finally found his voice, all he could say was: "really?"

Zoe and Tommy nodded, while Takuya only shrugged in a 'whatever' manner.

"Wow, that's… thank you!! Thank you so much!!" Jared jumped forward suddenly, grabbed Zoe's hand and shook it so hard that the girl couldn't feel her fingers. After he let go, the girl only laughed nervously, rubbing her wrist.

"You will not regret it!! I promise!" the man went on excitedly.

Tommy smiled in response. The boy with the goggles snorted.

"I can't believe we're leaving in such a short time…" Zoe whispered, staring at the offices downstairs. She looked back at the sitting boy.

She and Takuya were left alone: Tommy wanted to go help prepare _'them gold-and-silver shooters'_ as Jared called the guns.

The plan was to leave as soon as everything was ready (_'even if they aren't as many as people think, there are still around 50 Magicians there, plus their followers. We'll need everything we can get.'_)

"Yeah, and we didn't even get the chance to sleep much." Takuya yawned.

They were silence for a while.

"it's just so weird… one day we're fighting Digimon, something we're familiar with, and the next here we are, on a planet we barely know, about to help win something that's not even for us." Zoe said.

"…we?" Takuya raised an eyebrow. He stood up. "You're not coming."

"Excuse me?" the girl crossed her arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're staying here." Takuya responded firmly.

"Alone?"

"Of course not… I heard some other people'll be here."

"Hold on." Zoe stepped towards him, closing her eyes. "Why should I stay here anyway?"

"Because," he sighed. "It'll be dangerous for you."

"Right, and Ranamon was_ easy_ to handle! As far as I recall, I managed to defeat _her_!"

"You're comparing the Magicians with _Ranamon_?!" Takuya exclaimed. "And besides, that was so long ago!!"

"yeah, I'm much stronger now!" the girl raised her voice.

There were a few moments of silence.

"Zoe, look." Takuya finally started. "I just… I don't know if I can take care of you that much in a battle, okay? I… don't want to worry about you all the time; I'd be a lot calmer if you were here."

"What about _Tommy_? He's younger than both of us!" the girl shouted.

"My point exactly. I can only protect one of you, but with two…"

"I appreciate the fact that you're being the big strong leader, but I _don't need this_! I'm not a _little girl_!"

"Ranamon was easy to defeat, Zoe! And every other battle we've won with 3 or 4 of the rest of the team by our side! I'm not even sure we can win **this** fight!" the boy shouted back. "…Look, I just want to be calm out there, okay?"

"Alright." Zoe took a deep breath. "I'll tell you what we'll do. You look after Tommy and yourself, and pretend I'm just not there."

"I can't—"

"_I _am also going to do the same. Because you know what, Takuya? I don't think _I_ can even _look_ at you anymore!"

* * *

_"What if she tells all the Mirits to stop messing about in Lalent?" Kouichi was overfilled with hope that his plan would work. "...and the Digital World?" _

_The Fire Queen opened her mouth to argue. And then stopped._

_Let it work, thought Kouichi. Please let her go; please don't make her stay..._

_"Stop the Earth Mirits." Aquamarine repeated after him quietly. _

_"Yeah, she's their queen after all!!" J.P. joined in with excitement. _

_"Foolish boy," Hamadrya hissed. "They've scattered across many worlds. Do you really think it's that __**easy**__?!"_

_"The Hall of Mirrors if often used to contact many universes at once." Vindera remarked._

_Yoma glanced up at her. _

Vindera had put on an encouraging smile upon her face.

The girl could not believe it – someone like the Air Queen, smiling… for her?

"Even so… I will not participate." Hamadrya said loudly.

"What?" Fleriss hissed. "You are given an opportunity to redo your wrongs, and you dare…?!"

"I dare." Hamadrya responded confidently. "I refuse to do something that will only imprison my people once again."

"And you would rather drag down a human to an eternal prison?" Aquamarine's soft voice was filled with wonder.

Hamadrya said nothing.

"Hey…" Yoma touched her shoulder. "Um… could we… just discuss it?"

The former Queen turned around and looked at the girl.

"_We have an opportunity."_

"_I already made myself clear enough."_

"_Think about it… if you accept…" _

For nearly a minute they were only staring at each other, arguing though a telepathic connection.

Finally, Yoma smiled weakly and looked up at Vindera.

"She agreed."

"That's good news!" the Air Queen smiled widely and turned to the still standing tall messenger from before, "You're free to go, Messenger."

"Yes, Your Majesty." He bowed and ran back.

"I will escort you to the Temple personally, and contact Lythic." The Air Queen looked down at the kids and Hamadrya.

* * *

_"Father," Yasuo reappeared. "I've sent the message, but I don't have a replay yet. Should we go straight to the Queens?"_

_"I don't believe this to be a good idea. Let us get a response first." Lythic responded. _

After what seemed like a long time, the man finally spoke once again:

"Kouji, Her Majesty Vindera just sent me a message: they will be arriving outside the Garden shortly. Come."

"…" Kouji silently followed him down the road, looking around and wondering where Yasuo suddenly disappeared to. There were many more questions buzzing in his mind, and he had no idea if he should start shooting them simply out of the blue.

"You can start with 'where are we'." Lythic said with a lazy smile.

"Eh… are you… reading my mind or something?" Kouji looked up at him with irritation.

"No… I'm just guessing you still have a lot to ask." The man replied, eying him.

"Well… yes. …where _are_ we? And how did you know that… this… Vindera woman will be coming with my brother?"

"The Queens and the members of the council can communicate through telepathy or, in this case, sound waves carried by the wind… I am an Air elementalist, therefore I can decipher sounds. As for where we are… this 'world', if you will, is called Lalent. It's in a universe alternate to yours. Lalent is just another version of your planet Earth, so to speak."

"You _know_ Earth?" Kouji's eyes widened.

"Yes, of course. Not only Gate keepers are watching you humans for quite some time now… we've even sent investigators. "At this, Lythic stopped. "My wife was among them." He continued after a moment. "But something happened, and she never returned. I guess that this is also why Yasuo is… skeptical about you humans."

"…oh… I understand." Kouji nodded and looked ahead.

They had reached a place in the road from where an exit could be seen.

"Speaking of my son, I wonder where he is…"

"Can't you… send him a telepathic message?" Kouji asked, more out of the desire to continue talking rather than finding out the answer.

"No, only elementalists with the same elements can contact each other. Of course, Yasuo could send me a cry for help if he needed to, he has a bit more power than the others, what with being a Gate keeper."

They had already reached the tall arc-like opening in the wall. When they stepped outside, they seemed to be right by a dusty wide road.

"We'll wait here." Lythic announced flatly, still smiling.

"…um, Mr…. Lythic, sir." Kouji started, a question popping into his mind.

"yes, Kouji?"

"…I don't understand… how is it that we speak the same language? I mean, Earth has many, and…"

"We don't, Kouji." The man let out a short laugh. "It's just that your spirit – or device, I'm not sure – allows you to understand what I'm saying and speak in the same language."

"I… I see."

He didn't, not very well, but Kouji decided not to keep poking about it.

And suddenly a laughing group of kids burst out from the entrance for the garden and towards the road, chasing each other.

While they already passed through the road, one of the kids – a boy – was a little behind. He tripped and fell.

At that same second something emerged a little farther down the road – something with wings that could only be seen because they were flapping up and down.

It was moving forward, towards the fallen boy.

Not even thinking about it, Kouji jumped forward, wrapped a hand around the kid's waist and as it shrieked he rolled away, causing them both to fall into the grass on the other side.

When Kouji looked up, he saw a large platform, floating a bit above the ground.

"You alright?!"

"What happened?"

The little boys' friends had come back and were now helping him up.

"I'm fine, yeah… that was close…!"

Kouji was still staring at the platform, wide-eyed.

It looked like a disc of clouds – but not like the clouds in the fairy tail books, real clouds, dark and non-puffy.

On that strange transportation method were standing 6 people. Kouji recognized J.P. and his brother, the tall alien-like woman… and Yoma.

Kouji ignored the sting in his chest and stood silent, not noticing how the boy he had just saved from being crushed and his friends had, at Vindera's sight, bowed deeply.

"Ko—" J.P. exclaimed, "Kouji!!" , jumped off the platform, rushing towards him and grabbing hold of his hand, shaking it multiple times. "I've missed you, I have missed you soooo!!"

The other boy was staring at him in slight awe, but finally smiled a bit.

"good to see you too, J.P."

Kouichi was staring at him, hand in a pocked of the long, dark blue robe he and J.P. were wearing, buttoned all the way to their necks. He had a large, sunny smile on his face as he went down from the cloudy platform.

"Hey there, bro. decided to drop by as well?"

Kouji finally freed his hand from J.P.'s grasp and nodded shortly, "it was partly accidental."

Yoma was examining him with a mixture of fear and something that could not be easily defined.


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: here it is!

A chapter explaining a little more about Therra. and... I tried to stuff in more 'original character development'. I'm sorry for pushing away/not writing the actual battle, but it will be here, I promise, next chapter.

I got about.. I dunno, 3 reviews for two weeks (one today) and this kind kicked me from behind. I told myself, "these people want chapter 25. write it already!" LOL. yeah. for what it's worth, I hope my writing has become a bit better... and that my grammar has improved! (...do let me know if I forgot a word or something again, tends to happen).

I'm not going to say "I hope the next chapter won't take long", because I have no idea ;^; I have ideas, this No25 was actually my huge problem to begin with, but we'll see what happens. I _WILL _FINISH THIS THOUGH, EVEN IF IT TAKES ME LONG. Please don't abandon me? D:

BTW, a song that fits our dear Takumi is "One week" by Barenaked Ladies~

and, if you want to see how some of the characters (mostly Yoma), look like + other DF02 related stuff, go to my main page. there's a pretty link I'll add in a few moments 8D

**

* * *

**

**25. In Between/ Preparations  
**

_Zoe and Takuya were left alone: Tommy wanted to go help prepare 'them gold-and-silver shooters' as Jared called the guns._

_ The plan was to leave as soon as everything was ready ('even if they aren't as many as people think, there are still around 50 Magicians there, plus their followers. We'll need everything we can get.')_

_ "Yeah, and we didn't even get the chance to sleep much." Takuya yawned._

_ They were silence for a while._

_ "it's just so weird… one day we're fighting Digimon, something we're familiar with, and the next here we are, on a planet we barely know, about to help win something that's not even for us." Zoe said._

_"…we?" Takuya raised an eyebrow. He stood up. "You're not coming."_

_[...]_

_"Alright." Zoe took a deep breath. "I'll tell you what we'll do. You look after Tommy and yourself, and pretend I'm just not there."_

_"I can't—"_

_"Iam also going to do the same. Because you know what, Takuya? I don't think I can even look at you anymore!"_

_

* * *

_

How many hours had passed? Six? Seven? Twelve?

Takuya didn't know.

He was sitting on the seat next to Tadao, in a pickup truck, staring at the landscapes outside. He didn't remember when they left and he didn't care. Half of is mind was busy with trying to figure out a good fighting strategy, while the other half kept reminding the first about his fight with Zoe.

The two hadn't spoken since - she was avoiding him as much as it was possible and as soon as the preparations were done, she took off in another car. He had shouted 'good luck!' to her - she was a part of breaking in squad, who had to get to the Magicians' Tower (located on their lone island) earlier - but no response was received.

Tadao and Takuya were assigned to deliver the weapons to the Western Shore, to the docks - a place that was one day away from Point City (it appeared that either Therra's one continent wasn't as big as it seemed... or Point City and Tokihota were on the west side)

"Are you still upset with Mr. Amaryllis? Or with Miss Zoe?" asked Tadao, taking a left turn.

"I'm not upset with anyone in particular, just the _situation _we're in." the boy answered, eyes still pinned outside. "it's not that I'm so selfish as to hating the idea of helping you guys, it's just-..."

"I understand. Don't worry." The man cut him, smiling lightly. "By the way, how did you two get here? Double J said something about a phone-booth...?"

"That's where we ended up when we landed here." Takuya said, then added, "The story of how is pretty long, though."

"We got time."

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to share everything ... at least it would get his mind off things for the time being.

"Should I start from the reasons or just the way we came?"

"Everything you consider important," Tadao took a left turn.

* * *

"Are you alright, Zoe?"

The question was directed from a man called David - a part of the 'break-in' team the girl was assigned to.

She looked at him and bit her lower lip before saying, "yes, just tired. Sorry."

David smiled at her then turned to look around.

The group was consisting of David, Zoe, two brothers by the names of Edgar and Timothy (Tim being the eldest), a woman called Esther and a man everyone called Bullet (he was replacing Zora for unknown reasons).

Zoe wasn't very comfortable at first to be in a group of people she didn't know and who were much older, but she reminded herself that this is how she spent the first week in the Digital world - among people she didn't know at all. She tried to observe her new companions, find out something about them, of their daily lives, but she far she had no luck.

As a start, he brothers were quite puzzling, as Zoe discovered after one hour in their company.

Edgar and Timothy were sometimes mistaken for twins - when they were younger, they had the same height and styled their hair the same, often spoke the same as well. They did it to joke around with people. And the habit stuck: even though now Edgar was clearly younger, they still had the tendency of exchanging looks as if they knew something no one else did. They still had similar gestures.

Esther was ... a different type of woman, quite unexplainable. There was something about her that made a person notice her.

She was usually serious, devoted to the Resistance (Zoe guessed that perhaps she'd suffered of the Magicians more than the rest?), and a good shooter. Her hair was short, very light blond, and her eyes were dark brown. David told Zoe, in secret, that before Esther had a long, wavy hairstyle, framing her face and making her one of the most attractive members of the Resistance. But then she'd cut it, claiming it was in the way.

David... Zoe smiled in amusement whenever she thought of him. He knew everything. At times she wondered if he could even tell the future: he did know everything of anyone, and looked like the type who would say anything just for fun (but Tim assured the girl that David wouldn't betray them)... Zoe had the feeling that he knew everything about _her_ as well; although how he could have found out was a mystery.

The only person she couldn't figure out at all was 'Bullet'. David told her that this was his last name, but wouldn't reveal his first (Zoe was certain David knew it, though). He was... undefinable. Like a shadow, serious and quiet. He was a little scary, even, but the girl guessed he must be a good fighter too. More than that she couldn't get out from his image.

Right now, the team was by a harbor, waiting at the docks. Esther, Tim and Edgar had gone missing for the moment. Bullet and Zoe were sitting on a long wooden box, him trying to light a cigarette (apparently failing due to the strong wind). David was looking out to the sea.

Suddenly, a green light fell on the three - it was coming from the front of ... what was this...? It took Zoe a few moments to adjust her eyes to the light and see that what was behind it was what seemed to be a small seiner.

A figure was waving at them. The green light blinked and faded almost completely, but still stayed on enough so the vessel was visible. It approached the dock and , made a turn and stopped. A ladder went down with a soft sound.

"Come on," David whispered, standing behind Zoe and leading her to the ladder. Bullet, after throwing away burned out match and an unused cigarette, followed them.

Once on the seiner, Zoe looked around curiously.

"Everything alright?" A female voice asked. "I hope no one saw you."

"Thankfully, no." David confirmed, "This thing is one of yours, isn't it?"

"Thanks to our father's will." Edgar said irritably.

"They were all confiscated by the Ms," David shared with Zoe, "except for the ones belonging to the brothers."

"Once again, you know more than you should, Dave. ...We managed to hide this, along with a few more." Timothy said with a smile, then looked towards Zoe, "are you familiar with the plan, miss?"

She had been buried in her thoughts, and didn't hear him at first.

"Miss Zoe!" Tim said, a it louder, patting her head.

"ah! wa... what?" the girl blinked at him. "oh. the plan, right... well, we need to wait here until the weapons show up, right? Then sail to that tower and create a safe entrance."

"Correct." Bullet's voice was deep and kind of scary when he spoke. "Although I do not know what use you will be of..."

"She's here in case we're discovered." Esther told him.

* * *

"what a story!" an hour later, Tadao was staring ahead with wide eyes. "How... extraordinary!"

"It... yes, I suppose it is." Takuya rested his chin on his hand and looked outside. He didn't know if he should be relieved to finally tell everything, or worried that he shouldn't have. Well, it was too late anyway...

"We're almost there." Tadao announced cheerfully.

It was true: the docks could be seen not too far ahead, swimming in the golden light of a sunset.

"Why aren't there any ships?" Takuya asked when they drove pas the empty waters.

"The Magicians confiscated them ten or so years ago." Tadao explained, "so people would not be able to get anywhere outside of the continent. They are still in making, but only Ms are allowed to use them."

"This is ridiculous!" Takuya cried, "Are you telling me that people aren't allowed to go fishing here?"

"Not by the Borders. Only in rivers and lakes inside the continent, preferably close to cities."

"What about sea trips? You know, for fun?"

"_Fun?_ Here?" The tone was enough to clear everything up.

Takuya stared darkly ahead, "I suppose planes are out of the question as well."

"Planes..." Tadao murmured, "They were flying vessels, right? Amaryllis was rambling about 'planes' not too long ago, he even showed me plans. tch... didn't quite get it..."

The boy quietened. For the first time, he felt that these people really did need help - a ban on ships, planes, traveling... '_Enough is enough!_'

The water was sparkling beautifully, nothing upon it but a seiner at the far far end. "That's us." Tadao pointed.

* * *

"Took ya' long enough!" Bullet said, jumping down from the seiner. Tadao apologized and opened the back of the truck, revealing a set of long boxes. With Takuya, Bullet and Edgar's help, they carried them all one by one to the water vessel. Tim, Esther and Zoe pulled and carried them to the small deck at the front (Zoe having quite a bit of trouble, as the weaponry was heavy).

Takuya stretched and looked to the clear horizon, "Are we the only ones taking part in this?"

"No," Edgar explained, "Mr. Amaryllis, along with others, will be joining us at the very Tower once entering has been secured. We will contact them as soon as that is done."

"So we're the ones risking our asses out there?" Takuya murmured to himself. "Nice."

"Don't worry, kid, " Tim grinned, "Everything will be alright."

"Do you know if Tommy's with Jared?" The brown-haired boy asked, shooting glances at Zoe every now and then. She was standing by the seiner's rails, looking in another direction.

"Your friend, the young boy? I think so. He expressed his wish to take part in the main battle. Just like double J," Timothy laughed, "but I don't know if his father will agree to this. Time to get on, everyone! Tadao, we will let you know once this is done."

They exchanged a handshake, and Takuya exclaimed, "Wait, you're not coming, Tadao?"

"Wish I could, kid. But I have to take the truck back to the main base... Amaryllis's orders. Besides, someone has to stay behind and make sure we're not discovered. Take care, you." He gave him a pat on the shoulder, "and make up with your girlfriend as soon as possible. Fighting a battle while in a fight with a close person isn't recommended." Tadao smiled widely, a smile full of reassurance and energy. "You are so much like me, so I know you'll manage it all."

Tadao waved at everyone else and got on the pickup truck. Takuya stared at the trail of dust as he drove away.

"Come on, lad." Edgar pushed his back lightly, "Jare gets angry if we take too long to do things."

* * *

The next day, early evening. They were still traveling, the water seemed endless. Takuya was starting to wonder if Timothy even knew the way (he was the steersman). When he asked, the young man replied, _"If I've got it wrong, we'll find out soon enough."_

They had contacted Jared the evening before, as soon as they got the radio working and made sure they weren't listened to. His orders were to keep to the plan and make sure they aren't spotted.

The brothers (and Bullet) were the ones who knew in detail what to do, and seemed most familiar with the procedure... Zoe nor Takuya didn't ask what they were going to do exactly. The two were just ready to pull out their digivices whenever needed.

...Takuya was sitting on the end of a twisted rope, his mind blank and his eyes closed.

"Takuya," a voice made him jump and he half-fell backwards in the hole that the rope was forming when twisted this way. Zoe waited until the boy managed to get out and fall forward on his knees. Nervously, he stood and brushed himself off.

Zoe's hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she'd also changed clothes: leans, boots and a simple tank top. She looked as good as always, the boy noted to himself.

"Takuya," she started again, then paused. "I've been meaning to talk to you. Look, once this plan sets into motion, we'll have to think of our positions. You know, who helps whom and so on, so we won't be too close together, and-"

"I'm sorry!" He blurted out suddenly. Zoe stopped and blinked at him, a bit puzzled. "I'm sorry!" He repeated, "for telling you what you can and can't do. Trying to order you around and everything. But when battle is here, I don't want to be forced to stay away from you!"

"Taku-"

"No, listen! I'm worried, and terrified, that something might happen to you! I'm terrified that ... we might end up in a situation like Kouichi and Yoma's! I wouldn't... I don't know how he can do it. But... it was no excuse to talk the way I did, I was really-"

"We both overreacted." Zoe cut him, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "And we're both to blame. I'm sorry too." She peeked at him, "But... I assure you, I can take care of myself. And... I won't... it won't happen, what you're fearing."

"I ... hope... not."

Silence took over.

The boy rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, smiling at her. "But we're okay now, right?"

"Yes. Yes, we're okay."


	26. Chapter 26

Hello, readers! Or, whatever is left of you. if there is anyone left…

I want to apologize for the long absence. I didn't have interest in finishing the story anymore, plus the lack of an actual plot point (at least, I don't remember it anymore). I am, however, working on re-writing the chapters. I can't promise I will finish it, HOWEVER, I want to change a lot, make it a little less painful to read (my writing used to be bad, huh? I've improved a lot). I'm going to start replacing chapters one by one, and I may change around a few things in the pacing, so if you want, you can check back to re-read. I want to change a lot of the plot after chapter 12, so there will be new material, too.

I hope I'll get back into the spirit of it and master up the energy to finish!

Thank you for your previous support, for your interest, and I hope I haven't lost everyone.

-N.


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